Sharing
by Rave The Rich
Summary: Nozomi plans a rivalry with Hikari and she gets more. A lot more. Alternative Universe, Appealshipping please give it time, it will be there soon , shoujoai, yuri, descriptions of death, abuse. Please read and review. Work in progress.
1. The Mark of the Consistent Overachiever

Sharing 

This will be an Appealshipping (Hikari/Nozomi) shoujo-ai/yuri fic that MIGHT become a lemon if I feel it to be dictated as such. For now, this fic will be entirely in the first person of Nozomi, who at initial points of the story will write entries in a journal talking about the progressing relationship she has with the new coordinator. The fic will begin sometime after the 12th episode of Diamond/Pearl after which Nozomi won the contest ribbon. The story is somewhat Alternate Universe, but follows portions of the Diamond/Pearl timeline. No flames, please.

NOTE: The dates in the journal entries are here to show story progression.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Pokemon, a creation of one Satoshi Tajiri, and is produced domestically (in the United States) by Pokemon USA/TAJ/The Pokemon Company, and internationally by Shogakukan and OLM. I personally own nothing and make nothing by writing this.

(Chapter 1- The Mark of the Consistent Overachiever)

* * *

June 19, 2006 

To Anyone Who Cares to Read,

Yesterday, I competed in a Pokemon Contest in Jubilife City in the hopes of winning my second contest ribbon and moving one step closer to the Sinnoh Grand Festival. The road to the contest finals was long and difficult, but I ended up taking home the contest ribbon in an easy finals victory. The most notable points to make of this contest involved one trainer who for the most part wants to dabble and flirt with the idea of converting to coordinating, and a rookie coordinator with her Buneary by the name of Hikari. I have seen the trainer named Satoshi make great headway in the world of Pokemon training winning the Orange islands league trophy and Battle Frontier championship, progressing mightily through the Indigo League, Silver and Evergrande Conference, along with numerous other competitions over the years.

I believed that while he has an incredible heart and desire for all things pokemon, and not to mention an Aipom that begged to be a part of it all, I found it to be a counterproductive step back for him. If he wants to truly do both, it is a matter of is willingness, because he will have to learn and master new tactics, strategies and battling techniques to achieve the level of success he desires to become a top coordinator, if that's what he wants. His ambition is comparable to that of a young child dipping his hand into the cookie jar; always wanting to grab onto something exciting and seeking new and different endeavors in his career. Satoshi might have a great desire or even a need in his mind to learn all he can about Pokemon, but excess is never a good thing when you're well on your way to setting your own goals in training.

Satoshi and Hikari traveled to the contest together along with their companion the former Pewter City gym leader, Rock/Water Pokemon specialist and breeder in training Takeshi. My thoughts about Satoshi and Takeshi aside, I believe that I have found a formidable rival in Hikari, who I got to know a little more about while preparing for the aforementioned contest. I first saw her as my Glameow found a choker on the floor that somebody likely lost as they prepared their outfit for the opening appeals to the judges. Hikari, who told me that she was a second generation coordinator, was very excited and nervous about the prospect of being in her very first contest. Consider it a right of passage amongst competitors in the pokemon league or contests, as not quite three months ago; I suffered the same feelings of jitters and nervousness as I proceeded onward with my matriculation process leading towards becoming a top coordinator. It never hurts to get your feet wet in any endeavor, and even the best of the best experience nervousness, but once the 'green' is knocked off of any person just entering their vocation that has the potential and is willing to put in the work, watch out.

I was around Hikari for much of the day of the contest, and I found out a fact about the young coordinator that made me want to know so much more about the girl. Hikari's mother video phoned her daughter prior to and after the contest. Her mother happens to be my idol from grammar school days of dreaming and wanting so badly to become a world class coordinator. Her name is Ayako and what hooked me to Ayako was more than just the competitions she staged against pokemon of other coordinators and the bond she shared with hers. It was a combination of the grace and resolve that she showed, even in situations of great pressure that inspired me to follow in those same footsteps, yet tread in a slightly different pathway to success in the contests. While Ayako represented traditionalists ideas and ideals of womanhood, beauty and class to a capital "T," I knew that my attitude on life and my feelings on what I wanted to represent in the form of an appeal and battling simply would not correlate to Ayako's and quite frankly would not be me. Besides, to exactly copy someone would be a desperate and sorry attempt at fanaticism that I had no need to attempt.

My appeals had to represent me and as such had to be real, otherwise my entire presentation would suffer. By 'suffer,' I mean that the judges would see right through my falsity. Other coordinators I've met in this, the first few months of my journey would probably tell you that I have a cool, at times cheerful, yet always reserved attitude about me. Few know about the meaning beyond my outer appeal to the world, much less the pokemon contest judges. My goal is to display a sense of confusion to the audience, where things do not appear to be what they actually are. I always want to keep people guessing, and by keeping them guessing, I've captivated and drawn them to me to the point where they will continue to want to see me contest after contest. Fellow coordinators that have seen me in action will tell you that I train a Glameow, which some will argue is a pokemon more appropriate for a girl, yet I've never particularly cared for the rigid criterion the world shoves in my face concerning what it means to be a woman, or in my case, girl.

Being a woman is about what you are inside, not outside. The role that confusion plays is most prevalent in the fact that I wear a tuxedo in most appeals and, quite frankly, appear to the naked eye to look just like a flamboyant young boy. Confused yet? Well, that's the idea, but I want the people to see things the way I see them. I am someone who is very hard to explain in 25 words or less. In my life, I always try to find a meaning in everything, because if I learn of that meaning now, it is a lesson that I'm not forced to learn later. It would only be natural for me to want people to think long and hard about me, so that I stay in their minds long after they leave the contest. To place meaning and substance in my everyday life practices and contest appeals are no exception.

Despite Ayako following the 'girl next door' stereotype for the most part, she was one of the greatest inspirations for me outside of my own parents because despite being a symbol of beauty, she was also a symbol of strength and love, which she showed for both the sport of coordinating and for her pokemon. The reason I train a Glameow is simply because she did. Just because I'm not a fanatic doesn't mean I didn't (and don't) want to be just like her.

To get back on topic, I had mentioned that Hikari was nervous and jittery about participating in her very first contest, so being a caring individual and a good friend, I did things to help her calm down and be clear headed for her upcoming appeal. She had to be or she would come off the blocks stumbling, and I didn't want that for her. I assisted in helping to get her ready by brushing her hair to get her ready for the judges and as another ice breaker; I let her see the very first contest ribbon I ever won about two months ago. Her excitement about this contest; her, for lack of a better term, coming out party to the coordinating scene was at times over the top and naive, but I thoroughly enjoyed her company throughout the contest and saw it as a welcome change compared to the tense atmospheres I've entered into during other contests. If I recall correctly, I responded to Hikari's 'kid at Christmas Eve' demeanor as being cute.

Allow me, if you will, to clarify my vocabulary. To say that something is cute can also mean that something is innocent. Much in the vein of a newborn baby, a dog dressed in doll-like clothes, and someone that lives life with absolutely no worries (I refer to this as a daijobu life) Hikari, as it pertains to coordinating is innocent. This is not meant as an insult in her direction. As a matter of fact, although I've only known her for less than two days, I envy her ability to make the best of any situation and keep a smile on her face. The way she handled her defeat at my hands was nothing short of classy and a real throwback to the demeanor of her mother some years ago. She was able to brush herself off after a tough battle in a losing effort, and help me celebrate in winning contest ribbon number two. I admire that type of confidence and wish that I could say the same for myself. I'll admit that I, Nozomi am indeed envious of Hikari.

Now, why in the world would I envy this so-called 'Daijobu' girl? Well, there were times in my life where the idea of keeping a smile on my face and not having worries in this world even as a young child was a downright laughable proposition. Not due to any estrangements in the family or a history of abuse, but because although I am only ten going on eleven years old, I've had a history of depression due to the events that have occurred in my young life. When I was five years old, one of my close male schoolmates, in fact, he was my best friend from age two up until kindergarten passed away due to leukemia, exposing me to the reality of lost life at a young age.

In the second grade, I was an accomplished gymnast with the goal of being a part of my country's Olympic national team in six to eight years. Coordinating was a goal of mine at the time as well, but the time and energy that is required of an Olympic-caliber athlete would require my full and undivided attention. Even the greatest of coordinators hit their career peaks in their late 20's, so starting at an older age would not be a great disadvantage. I was ranked number one in my development group (the sign of a consistent overachiever) and thought to be a lock for captain of any Olympic training squad in the world. Everything appeared to be going my way, as with continued hard work, an Olympic gold medal would soon be upon my horizon.

All such hopes and dreams were derailed however after an botched dismount off the balance beam caused me to land awkwardly on my right foot with such force that I suffered a double compound fracture on both my fibula and tibia bones, thus abruptly ending any hopes of my Olympic gold medal winning career quicker than a hiccup. For nearly two years after this major injury, I had to rehabilitate my right leg, maneuver to most places with a wheelchair and then walk with crutches to prevent further injury, which would have lead to the last resort of an ankle fusion surgery. Not long after my leg break, my father passed away due to unfortunate situations. Such tragic incidences in the life of a youth might drive that person to the lowest of depths later in life. Those overachievers like me, however, simply brush themselves off and move on to bigger and better endeavors. We are the people that don't dwell, but never forget, either.

This attitude has been both a blessing and a curse in my life. My introversion has left a sour taste in the mouths of some who believe that because I don't share my feelings, that I am a haughty individual. Nothing could possibly be further from the truth in my mind. I have cried and mourned the aforementioned problems and tragedies in my life, but always live to fight another day. Everyone in this world should experience great emotions every day of their lives, but it is not necessary to shout out to the world your sorrows and shortcomings and expect affection and care in return. It would be better if we could all grieve of our problems in private settings away from the watchful and critical eyes, who honestly could care less of you and more of your life story for purposes of idle and petty gossip. My business will forever remain my business, never to be shared with any other human being. The bottom line is I don't share.

Getting back on topic, again, if the world were made of people more like Hikari, (I say 'more like' because from what little I've seen, there can only be one Hikari) I believe that there would be little reason for anyone to complain or sulk in disappointments of goals left unaccomplished, like a marriage left in shambles. I don't know if she has experienced any such calamities or misfortunes in her life as I have, but if she has, she is blessed to be able to exude the confidence that she does. This young girl has already had me admiring her from afar, and wanting to know her secret to how she lives life. She in a way reminds me of the smiling motivational speakers in terms of her confidence, with the lone exception being that her sugary sweet disposition never abandons her. It contrasts quite nicely with my 'cooler than the other side of the pillow' approach to life. If she wants to become a world class coordinator, however a change is necessary for anyone to take her seriously, like they will do for me in about one year's time.

No matter what her contest resume will include in the coming years, she will certainly make a great attempt to follow in her mother's footsteps of the girl next door archetype. That career path can lend respect to the coordinator, but it will be much more difficult for her to gain that respect and become a serious threat to the world's top coordinators. Just keep in mind that the one thing that gains the most respect of your peers and your superiors in this business is winning ribbons and lots of them. Despite my concern, I am confident that Hikari is a strong coordinator deep inside and is just waiting to come out and show the world her capability. But, I just can't shake the idea that something may very well be holding her back from becoming the best that Sinnoh has to offer of this new generation of coordinators.

Whether it is her inert belief that nothing short of flawless appeals in all contests will be the only thing that impresses Ayako, or some other deep-rooted meaning and method to her madness, I can tell that something is holding the girl back. And it would be nothing short of a damn shame to have your career suffer because the bar was set to a ridiculously high level. Ayako set a very high, some might say impossible standard by winning the Grand Festival. Hikari has a chance to become big, but Hikari must run her own race to the top of the Pokemon contest mountain. If you were to ask Robert and Saori of their strategies for winning the Hoenn and Kanto Grand Festivals respectively, I'd almost guarantee you that they would both be different. After all, there is more than one way to skin a Skitty.

Switching gears for a moment, I need to get something off my chest about my pokemon coordinating experience so far. Although I am grateful to have this opportunity to perform as a top level coordinator, I must admit that the road to success in the world of pokemon coordinating has become far too monotonous. Either we as coordinators will win or we'll lose, but the tradition of good sportsmanship and humility is what has kept contests popular with longtime fans for so many years. But somewhere along the line, the promoters of these contests and other various exhibitions lost focus of the fact that they had to, well, appeal to a new generation of fans and supporters to keep this great sport alive. Nothing over the last half century or so has changed, so how do you expect most youth to buy into it and want to become coordinators themselves?

As for me, I have always been one to break tradition on a personal level and believe that it would be pointless to hold back me- the whole me, on a professional level, as well. Right now, all I have is a mission; a plan to change what has been accepted for decades as proper behavior in the pokemon world. This plan is designed to bring down, one would argue destroy, every foundation that has been built over the many centuries of recorded pokemon battling and coordinating. If I succeed, not only will I be a winner, so will Hikari.

Our names will be written together as being the catalysts in the resurrection of the sport that my idol Ayako helped to build. Every sporting channel will list us as the measuring stick through which all other future coordinators will be measured, and grandparents made up of this generation's new coordinators will speak of the golden era of coordinating to their future grandchildren. And perhaps most important of all, we will be able to provide for our future families and elder parents without the stress and worry that other adult children have with this similar situation. Again, it sounds complicated and arrogant on my part to think I can shake up the entire coordinating world single handedly, but again this is the mark of the consistent overachiever. Besides, who says you can't fight City Hall? Not me.

Unlike the hopes and wishes of some kids my age, fame and fortune were not the vices that drew me into the contest halls region wide, but they come with seniority in the territory. Just going out and being a top coordinator in Sinnoh will never get the casual fan to care about me. I can not settle with mediocrity if I want the fans to care. I have to shake everything and everyone up and create an atmosphere that will draw people to contest houses region wide. The underground scenes of fans has viewed my appeals and battles several times on internet video sites and have debated my pure abilities as a coordinator, but I have to be able to crossover to the mainstream in order to have any sort of success beyond ribbons and trophies, however important they are to me. Internet buzz about a short-haired, fiery, redheaded tomboy who's won two ribbons in less than three months can only do so much as the internet fans of coordinating only represent a trace amount of our otherwise large fan base.

My plan will have to touch every single fan of pokemon coordinating in some form or fashion, be it positive or negative. The plan is simply to make Hikari believe that she could defeat any coordinator, yet still maintain her incomparable confidence while gaining a newfound swagger in her step. Should this plan work, Hikari will never fear speaking her mind or letting the world know how she feels about her appeals. She will be a psychological dynamo that will rattle the nerves of her opponents and achieve victory with her pokemon without even having to break a sweat. Though I sound like a coordinator's coach, which is a luxury only afforded by the very well off, I've learned enough about the sport and know people enough to be confident in my plan. To put things in very simple terms, I wrap up this journal entry with my personal credo for my aforementioned outlined goal:

"I Nozomi, fully dedicate my mind, body and spirit to becoming the full fledged rival of Hikari, elevating both of us to the status we deserve to be as top notch Pokemon Coordinators, and to overall become legendary names in the incredible world of pokemon."

To put it simply, I am going to find a way— some way to formulate a heated rivalry between Twinleaf Town's Hikari and myself.

Wish me luck. After all, I have to combat cute on this journey, which is arguably more dangerous than flashing strobe lights on a television screen.

Girl on a Mission,  
Nozomi

A/N: And so ends Chapter 1 of what I hope to be an exciting and challenging project to create a basis for shipping what I believe to be a great future dynamic between Hikari and Nozomi. This story is designed to view the origins of a romantic relationship and cover the many dimensions of two people who are in love, as well. I 'hope' this fic brightens a 'light' in your eyes the same way it has mine. Read and Review with your constructive criticism and check my author's page for progress on updates and more information.


	2. Isaac Newton's Third Law of Motion

Sharing

As was said at the end of the initial chapter, Nozomi is a girl on a mission. Her mission is to help make Hikari a number one coordinator and shake up the entire world of pokemon coordinating by formulating a marquee rivalry to get them both high acclaim and accolades. Her plan starts about three months after chapter one. Please do not flame.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Pokemon, a creation of one Satoshi Tajiri, and is produced domestically (in the United States) by Pokemon USA/TAJ/The Pokemon Company, and internationally by Shogakukan and OLM. I personally own nothing and make nothing by writing this.

(Chapter 2- Isaac Newton's Third Law of Motion)

* * *

September 5, 2006 

For Anyone Who is Interested,

It is said that once a coordinator begins open competition in one of the many regions in the pokemon world, the so-called experts and statisticians claim that it takes on average 24-36 months to project their ultimate career path. This time span is allegedly supposed to determine whether coordinators have "it" or not. For those truly special cases, it is said that the coordinator must be able to win 10-12 ribbons within the aforementioned time period for anyone to take you seriously as a top competitor. I however have always found this and many other forms of armchair quarterback logic to be flawed, as they never once consider the person and always consider the common trends.

I don't blame them for doing this, however. After all, with well over 300 years of documented and recorded data of pokemon contests, Grand Festivals and league championships at their fingertips, they have the means to follow trends of the truly great coordinators, and put them right alongside the new crop of coordinators today. Blame our short attention spans, the highlight era of documenting athletic pokemon competition and our desire to know in our precious little hearts and minds that this generation provided the best of everything and the worst of nothing. Well, if the next big thing comes around, we'll certainly be there to witness it.

This is where, again the human factor surprises and surprises often. The fact is that there is no such thing as an accurate prediction on any events that have taken place in our history. Some will say that 9/11 taught this generation that although you may have opportunities greater than any of the generations past and you lived in the freest of nations, it is not wise to fall into any sort of false sense of security and let your guard down when you believe you know (or don't know) what lurks beyond the bend. Franklin D. Roosevelt captioned the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 as "A Date which will live in infamy," and it became one, primarily because of the lack of United States involvement in World War II at that time and the surprise of the Japanese bombing the Hawaiian naval base.

Forgive me if I appear to be going too deep with this subject matter. You, whoever may read this might get the sense that I am attempting in vain to place myself on the same pedestal as FDR and the many common men and women who became heroes on that one fateful day. I may be proud of my accomplishments at this point, but to place myself in the same breath as those great men and women would be arrogance personified. The point that I am trying to make with these historical references is to simply reinforce my belief that the most unpredictable animals in the entire world are the Homo sapiens. You can always count on the lions of the African pride lands to chase and eat gazelle. Whenever cobwebs are brushed away from the corners of a room, the spider that spun the web will make another one without fail. Some people claim that these actions are only natural and are learned much like someone who studies a vocation; piece by piece by their parents, who learned from their parents and so on. Anyone who doesn't learn simply will not survive.

Despite this unpredictability of the species human being, there are some behaviors which like the continuous web spinning of the black widow or the craving of fresh gazelle by the king of the jungle, can be counted on. For instance, if I were to punch somebody in the face, I would be a foolish idiot to think that I would not receive a punch back. This is Isaac Newton's third law of motion in is purest sense. I'm glad that there are some things we knowledge-thirsty youth can count on, and this leads me to the goal I set for myself some three months back. Hikari, the rookie coordinator from Twinleaf town is going to be my rival, and a damn good one, because I will throw the first punch (figurative, of course) in our rivalry. Throughout the coming months, I will dictate the pace and using my words and rhetoric, will force Hikari to always want to do me one better. The fact is you are the only person who will ultimately inspire yourself to become better than what you are and improve in whatever endeavor you choose. However you choose to find this inspiration is patently irrelevant, but you must keep in mind that the world will never stroke your mane and tell you you're the best. You're the only one who can prove your might.

Over the last three months, I've found myself in situations where you could easily mark me as a hypocrite. I have not won a contest ribbon since the win three months ago. It was not because of any kind of slump I'm having, as I've spent the last three months competing in gym battles with the gym leaders of Sinnoh. I haven't taken my own sage advice I lent to Satoshi to not participate in both pokemon contests and in gym battles at the same time, and the same thing that most likely attracted the trainer to contests has attracted me to battling, and that is a great love for all things pokemon. Speaking of that, the last three months have also been spent building up my team for upcoming contests and pick up battles with local trainers to keep my battling strategies fresh. Along with Glameow and Misdreavus, I now have Monferno, who evolved from my beginner pokemon Chimchar four days ago and a Ledyba, which I rescued and helped rehabilitate back to health. My team will have to be focused and strong if our plan to make a great rivalry between my team and Hikari's team a success. My only issue would be just how this rivalry would begin.

Three weeks ago, I got my answer, as I was given correspondence saying that due to my success in winning two ribbons and for showing well rounded skills by also winning two Sinnoh league badges, I would be among 512 rookie coordinators invited to the First Years Challenge in the Sevii Islands. The challenge would be held in mid-October and would not affect anyone from competing in their local Grand Festivals. There are also no incentives for winning this Challenge as it is simply an exhibition of the many new faces in coordinating, and a time to meet and greet with competition you would not normally see.

I quickly signed up; hoping that among the many first year coordinators would be my future oblivious rival, Hikari. Usually the standard requirement for entry into this invitation-only event is that you either wins at least one contest ribbon or show great consistency in all of your contests (i.e. make it past the appeal rounds and win timed battles often). As a follower of all things in coordinating, it is hard to keep up with it all, but looking through contest results on the internet shows that Hikari has not yet won a ribbon, but has made it to one final and three semifinals. Perhaps most important is that she was not eliminated due to a poor appeal showing. I'm almost positive she will be a lock to go to the Sevii Islands. If you ask me, our genesis is indeed on the horizon.

The First Years Challenge is a week-long convention where many of the top dignitaries in the world of Pokemon congregate and officially welcome rookie coordinators to sanctioned competition in pokemon contests. Professors from around the world deliver keynote speeches to coordinators and generally will wish all of us good luck in our careers. Aside from friendly matches throughout the week, vendors and salesmen from the numerous companies have found this atmosphere to be the perfect arena to sell their new pokemon products. In recent years, it has become less of a matriculation for coordinators and more of a destination for the die hard contest fans of the world to see the coordinators of the future all in one place. All media of any sort was initially strictly forbidden at the challenge along with the receiving of any awards by coordinators. The Grand Festival Contest Administration's (GFCA) legal reasoning behind this measure is to "prevent coordinators from losing focus of their true reasons for coming to the event; having fun and learning more and more to better serve in the long run for their careers."

The pressure and monetary gain from media attention that an event of this magnitude could draw forced the administration in recent years to renege; but only to an extent. Battles and appeals are still not recorded on audio or video, but interviews with the new coordinators are shown around the world on television, internet and heard on the many local radio stations, as well.

In the media you will find the basis of my master plan.

The GFCA fully encourages rivalry amongst its participants, but they also stress uniformity, humility and restraint on the part of the coordinators. In other words, the administration is more inclined to present to its consumers an image that everyone in contests are really good friends and sportspeople and are also respectful of their competition at large. Ask any Joe Blow on the street, and they will tell you that while the idea looks good on paper, it is bound to get stale and die a quick death to any casual audience you desire to attract. Friendly rivalries are boring with a capital 'B'. You'll never get anybody excited if people already know the result of the aftermath. I don't blame the GFCA and its promoters for year after year going with what works, but there comes a time where people will tire of the same act, and they will eventually want to see something else. Without anyone else's knowledge, I take on the unsanctioned challenge of breathing the next breaths of fresh air into the coordinating scene for the fans.

Each coordinator has to secure interview time (if they want it) approximately ten days prior to the start of opening ceremonies on October 15. My plan was initially to simply book an interview, but after much self-deliberation, I knew I had to schedule an interview after Hikari scheduled hers. This of course is dependent upon if Hikari wants to conduct an interview at the rookie challenge. My plan is to orate with the purpose of getting Hikari's attention and do it by using a very scathing interview, which for the most part will concern Hikari, and hopefully fire her up for her upcoming contests and give her extra drive to train harder and smarter in the future. The reason why my interview has to be after Hikari's is because I have a feeling that among the questionnaire will be inquiries about other coordinators she has met. If this happens and she says the things I want-- no, need her to say, all will be well.

The rest will be left to imagination; my overactive, powerful, colorful, beautiful and furious workhorse of an imagination.

Hoping to never ever grow up,

Nozomi

* * *

October 15, 2006 

To Whomever Wants Back in the Loop,

The first day of the Challenge was today and all 512 of the top rookie coordinators from around the numerous regions gathered for the opening ceremonies to officially welcome all of us as coordinators to the world of pokemon. The day began with the traditional lighting of the flame of Moltres and speeches upon speeches from prominent figureheads in the GFCA. Perhaps the most exciting time of the day was when all of the coordinators got onto stage and one by one introduced ourselves to our own little fraternity. Exciting not simply because of the new faces I got to see and the faces I've seen in contests past, but because the most important part of my master plan had arrived. I could not have been happier as Hikari from Twinleaf Town announced herself to the crowd. If I had no restraint whatsoever, I would have hugged her for her accomplishment. Keep in mind, however that the first word of my sentence was 'if'. Unfortunately, I was not able to even get a word with her, as we were on opposite ends of the auditorium that held us. I was one of the ones who announced their name late while Hikari announced hers early. We were announced according to our achievements in pokemon coordinating at the time. It seemed that at this moment, whatever god or gods were in control of this challenge were working against us. I'll just have to work that much harder.

After the pageantry, all coordinators retired to their hotel rooms to prepare for tomorrow's appeals for professors and area Nurse Joys. My roommate for the week is Cindy from Ecruteak City in the Jotho region. Cindy won her first ribbon in Goldenrod City by defeating Shuu of LaRousse City of the Hoenn region in a close match. We get along fine and whatnot, but when she asked if we could share coordinating strategies, I got flustered and quickly changed the subject. No matter, though. If she could beat Shuu to win her first ribbon, I can already tell she will succeed in this profession. She doesn't need my help and, though no offense is meant, I didn't want hers. If you are confident in your own abilities as a coordinator, helpful advice along the way is fine, but at this point, me and Cindy are competitors and essentially at the same level, as we both have two ribbons.

Besides, I have more pressing issues to take care of this week, though I may live to regret my words in the event that Cindy ever defeats me in a pokemon contest or in a Grand Festival.

I have got to learn to open up and share more.

Enjoying day one of the rookie challenge,

Nozomi

* * *

October 17, 2006 

For Those Who Care to Know,

This morning, two days after the arrivals of all the rookie coordinators, I was finally able to talk to my future rival, Hikari. She was very excited, like me, to be in the Sevii Islands Challenge. But she is continuing to doubt her abilities saying that she isn't that good, and in my mind, I want to tell her not to worry about it and that she will be fine. But she has to hate me by the time I am done with business here in the Sevii islands. Hikari also told me that she was going to have her interview with the press tomorrow afternoon. Perfect timing because my interview will be the day after, and I need material to fire Hikari up. The clincher to this conversation, which lasted all of two minutes, was that she would mention the contest semifinal we had together and talk about my coordinating skills among other things. One thing she promised me that she would do is to listen to my interview, provided of course that I listen to hers.

Don't worry, Hikari. Nozomi will be all eyes and ears.

Focused and Fiery as usual,

Nozomi

* * *

October 19, 2006 

To Whoever May Show an Interest,

It is now day number five in the First Years Challenge, and so far everything has gone according to plan over the last six weeks. For the battling and appeals portion of the exhibition, I took up a rigorous training schedule to sharpen not only my pokemon's bodies, but their minds as well. Don't tell me none of it counts for anything. The fact is that I have to mightily prepare to battle most of these coordinators in future events as I move further along in my own journey. Coordinators like Cindy are exactly the type that I expected to meet in the Sevii Islands, and they were found in every beach or battlefield practicing their appeals or working out with their pokemon in preparation for auditions before the expert judges at the Sevii Islands.

Fortunately for us, Hikari more than came through for me in her day four interview making me look like a million bucks to the press. She put me over strongly as one of the top new coordinators in the entire world and said she had a great amount of respect for me as both a coordinator and a person, even though she has only met me twice. She could not have followed my plan more to a 'T' if we had went over every step prior to the First Years Challenge, and for the record, we did not.

Now it's my turn. In about two hours, I will fire the first shot in the next great pokemon rivalry. I will let the world know through internet, radio and television how I "really feel" about Hikari. I obviously won't immediately begin my interview by bashing the girl. People can't assume that I have a personal vendetta against her from the get go. The object is to build fake hatred throughout the interview and spin whatever questions the hosts make for me and against Hikari.

Our rivalry begins today, but right now, everything is unwritten. It's time to exercise my fingers and work.

Courtesy of the Orating Virtuoso,

Nozomi

* * *

Two Hours Later 

Professor Oak's Pokemon Talk is on the road for the special occasion that is the Sevii Island's First Years Challenge. Several other jockeys and professors have also hit the road for these marathon interview sessions. DJ Mary, Professor Oak, who have a popular daily radio show in the Johto region, have worked overtime and then some talking to nearly 175 of the 225 coordinators who scheduled an interview, and getting their thoughts on their careers so far. They haven't met me yet, but I'm being briefed by the media coordinator and director as we speak. I hear in the midst of the chaos around me as I go to makeup that his name is Randall. Randall says that the hosts Oak and the DJ will first introduce me, and will question me for anywhere from 10-15 minutes. He cautions me to keep all answers to the host's questions at about one minute or less, and to be courteous to the hosts of the program. To these commands, I say no problem and no problem. My only issue would have been if they told me that I had to be courteous to my fellow coordinators. Supposedly, the expectation and assumption of the media and the GFCA at large is that I'll have nothing but good things to say. That's their assumption, and you know what happens to people who assume. I can only hope that DJ Mary and the Professor are ready for me, because this one I'm about to do will make them feel like they've done 500 interviews when I finish.

Randall directs me to the studio, which is actually a stylized round table desk with room for five, bright lights surrounding every corner of the stage and the DJ and the professor say their hello's to me off the air. Because this exhibition takes place on the islands, we are outdoors, the hosts are in typical island garb and both individuals are wearing sunglasses. I'm damn nervous about the endeavor I'm undertaking, but seeing the Professor and DJ Mary with sunglasses over their eyes calms me down a few degrees. After we greet each other, I put on my own pair of sunglasses. The producer informs me and the hosts that we will start in just two minutes. Two minutes of silence between me and the 'Pokemon Talk' hosts pass and the 'ON AIR' light is on. It's now or never, but I don't say N-E-V-E-R to anything. When they talk, I'll listen, and DJ Mary is being given the go-ahead from the producer.

I'm ready.

"And we welcome you back, one and all, to our ongoing coverage of the Sevii Island's First Years Challenge. It is the afternoon of day number five here professor, and as usual, the crop of rookies are showing great heart and determination this October, professor." "Oh, without a doubt, DJ Mary," Professor Oak replies. "It never gets old to see the fire in the eyes of these young coordinators. You know, viewers and listeners don't often get the chance to see the DJ and myself at these many locations where big time events like these occur, but over the past five days or so, we've been around these trainers everyday and we get to hear so many different stories of coordinators inspired by past coordinators, or parents that were in the business at their age. It seems that many of these coordinators and their families have come full circle and this new generation is naturally more prepared and ready than the coordinators of four, three, even two decades ago. It'll be exciting to see what will happen in the years to come for this 2006 class."

DJ Mary adds onto the professor's point, "No doubt about it, Professor. Now let's continue onward with meeting yet another member of this new class of Pokemon coordinators. Nozomi here comes to us from the Sinnoh region and in her seven month career; she has done quite well for herself. She is not only ranked in the Top 25 of rookie coordinators in both appeals and overall contest results, it has shown in her winning two ribbons in just the first seven months of her career." Professor Oak interjects, "Along with her exploits as a coordinator, she has also won two Sinnoh gym league badges to go along with her contest ribbons. Nozomi, we welcome you to Pokemon Talk on the Road!"

It begins for me. "Professor Oak; DJ Mary, I thank you both for having me here at the First Years Challenge and let me say it is nothing short of an honor to be with you two today."

"We thank you for coming here to be with us this afternoon," said the DJ. "Let's begin. You, Nozomi have been a part of a rare but new breed of coordinators that have also competed in gym battles in your brief tenure. Now, when you were younger and watching battles and contests as a young girl, what did you want to do more; train or coordinate?"

I tell myself, baby steps, baby steps and more baby steps. After all, this portion of the interview is the meat and potatoes, and dessert will be well worth the wait. "Believe it or not, I've always wanted to do both. That is, I've always wanted to be both a coordinator and a trainer at different points in my life. Since I was a young girl, my mother, Hitomi was the one who got me hooked when she showed me a pokemon contest. I wasn't entirely sold on the sport until I saw this one coordinator by the name of Ayako. I might have only been three or four years old at the time, but I was hooked by her grace, her beauty, her confidence and her flair for all she did in her contests. I'd go to grammar school and tell people that I wanted to be a Grand Festival champion just like Ayako, train a Glameow like her and much like all of the trainers and coordinators here this week, I wanted and still want to this day to win the Grand Festival, wherever and whenever it may be." At this point, I'm just laying the foundation, but so far, so good. I hope they use Ayako to lead to Hikari.

It's now Professor Oak's turn. "Do you model your appeals just like Ayako?" I give a smile to the professor. "You would think that as big a fan that I am of Ayako, professor that I would, but I really don't. I probably have one of the more unique appeals of all the rookies in attendance here. While Ayako was more of a dainty and classy girl next door who carried herself as such, talk to anyone that knows me and they'll tell you that that's just not me. If my mother were here, she would tell me stories of how I'd bawl my eyes out whenever I had to wear a dress as a little girl. Often times, it would be to a formal event, but I would be more comfortable in a modest tuxedo or a shirt and tie. Most arguments would end with her winning, especially when I was younger, but I refused to be restricted to simply wearing a dress just because 'that's what girls do; they wear dresses'. As a young girl, I would never play with dolls even when they were someone else's. Actually, I would only do it so that classmates would not have to play alone, and I owned no dolls or anything really considered 'girlish'. I don't see how the way I dress has to be anyone else's concern but my own. When I got to be about five or six, mom one day threw her hands up in the air and allowed me to wear what I wanted. Her reasoning behind this was that she saw I was simply not happy with wearing any dress. I told her that I just don't see why wearing a dress makes me any more or less of a girl, and to her credit, she understood and agreed. She's the best."

DJ Mary is now asking a question based on some of the answers I've given. "Nozomi, you talked about how your mother was a fan of pokemon. Are there any other influences that you consider important in your nascent pokemon career?" I'm hesitant to answer this question, but decide to quickly get it out of the way and move on to more important things. "Perhaps the two greatest influences in my pokemon career aside from my mother and Ayako were my good friend from before grammar school Makoto, and my father Keiichi. I don't like to talk about them much because they've both since passed away. Dad was a big fan of pokemon for much of his childhood and adult life, but because of his parents dislike of pokemon and their insistence that he be formally educated, he was never able to fulfill what I knew was his dream of becoming a pokemon trainer. Dad only had one child, that being me and always wanted the dream he was never able to fulfill himself to live in either him or her."

"He wasn't a stage dad or anything because I chose this path on my own, but he was a great proponent of tough love. I could always break him though. All it would take was a simple conversation with dad about pokemon. Originally, I wanted to be a trainer like dad wanted me to be first and then become a coordinator later, like Ayako. My mother was the big coordinating fan. As far as my late best friend is concerned, Makoto and I shared stories were we would just talk about pokemon, the battles and the contests we watched, and… we were going to travel together on a journey as trainers, until his untimely passing about five years ago. With all due respect, that's all I'm willing to say about my other influences, because I get very emotional thinking about those two." I prayed to whatever gods existed that they got the point and would just move on. Please, please just move on. At this point, I'm glad I put on my sunglasses, because tears are coming out of my eyes as the professor speaks to me once more.

"Let's move on then." The professor somberly intercedes. "On a much lighter note, I'm sure that over the last six months, you've met many coordinators and had many great experiences. Could you tell us some stories about coordinating and the coordinators you've met, or if you want, tell the listening and viewing audience some funny stories of your journey so far." This is the clincher. I'll have to pull myself together and go full throttle with this. I wait about three seconds, and then answer.

"Yeah... about other coordinators. Forgive me, but I have a question for you two. Do you remember earlier this week interviewing a coordinator named Hikari?" If their memories are sharp, they'll remember. And once you see her, it's quite hard to forget her. "Well over the last several days, we've interviewed many coordinators, but I..." DJ Mary then suddenly interrupts. "Wait a minute, Oak. Remember when Nozomi talked about Ayako? The Grand Festival champion Ayako is Hikari's mother!" "Oh, Hikari! That's right! You know what; I couldn't say enough positive things about her after our time together. She was such a nice, kind young girl, and she wants to be a great coordinator like her mother so badly..." Now is my time to take a stand. I calmly interrupt the Professor's verbal praise of Hikari. "I beg to differ. If you ask me, that girl is doing nothing more than grasping at straws." I appear to have startled DJ Mary and the professor with that statement. Yay me. A series of 'uh's' are being swapped back and forth by the twain like hot potatoes and I break the silence by continuing my fake rant.

"Even though my parents were not great trainers or coordinators like Ayako, it doesn't mean that my determination is any less than Hikari's. My goal since I was only three or four years old was that I would not waiver from the ultimate objective of entering the Grand Festival, and from there on becoming a champion. She, and I'm talking about Hikari, may have had a completely different goal of not losing the respect and love of her dearest mother by slipping on the proverbial banana peel in her first contest. Whenever I think about Hikari, two words always enter my mind, and they are 'silver spoon,' which is exactly what she was born with inside her mouth. It's an undeserved and unfounded title placed half upon her shoulders and the other half gently upon her lap because she's the daughter of a Grand Festival champion. The daughter of a Grand Festival champion, for Pete's sake! You might as well take twelve average coordinators from the last decade and have all of those trainers giving Hikari their secrets of success."

"Well I didn't grow up with that kind of fortune, Hikari. She should count herself as nothing short of a lucky individual. Unfortunately, the vibe I've gotten from her at the contest we were at about four months ago and the scant time I've spent with her this week was far from what I would consider humble or appreciative of the fact that she's here. And Hikari, if you're listening and I know you are, I want you to know that at this point, you, I and the other 510 coordinators here are essentially at an equal playing field. Genetics and 75 cents will get you nothing but a cup of coffee in this sport, but I'm sure you've figured that out already, O great poster child of nepotism. Nothing is ever as easy as it looks, isn't it? And the fact that you still have not yet won a contest ribbon proves this to be the honest to goodness truth." Outrage and disbelief should be arriving in three, two, one...

"Uhh, Nozomi, don't you think you're being just a bit too hard on Hikari?" DJ Mary looks very uncomfortable answering this question, and I know I've done my job near flawlessly so far. I smile at the question given to me and continue.

"Somebody has to be hard on her, Mary" I reply matter-of-factly. "Like I said, the girl was born with a silver spoon in her mouth, and a road map to success in coordinating under her arm. My feelings for Ayako aside, I don't like nor do I truly care for her offspring. If a coordinator wants true success, and not to be an overrated, over hyped, cocky, arrogant, spoiled second generation piece of crap like daijobu girl, you have to win ribbons, and you have to win them often. Where are your ribbons, Hikari? And by the way, I'm not talking about the good luck ribbon your mother gave you before you left home. Ribbons can't be bought, and I'm living proof of this. Not one, but two ribbons and I show well-roundedness, because I also won two badges, even though I have no plans whatsoever to compete in the Sinnoh League Pearl Conference."

"How did I get all of this? It certainly wasn't because of a parent in the business, because neither of my parents ever competed in battles or contests. But with the combination of their love and support and me going out on a journey the past seven months and busting my butt day in and day out, I got to the point where I'm almost halfway to the Sinnoh Region Grand Festival. Hikari can't say that because the bottom line is she doesn't have the drive to push herself to that next level. The privileged progeny will never get there because she's never needed to prove herself like I have. She can always fall back on something because of the notoriety of Ayako, and her constant lifeline from now until her retirement will be her mother. Her success will always be compared to her mother, so she'll never trudge her own path like I will. It's a shame when you think about it, but I'm not crying a river, much less a rain puddle for the girl."

Professor Oak appears to be beet red in his face and shaking in his work boots, and if his jaw was not attached to his head, it would have fallen to the ground thirty seconds ago. That's another notch on my belt. "Isn't there anything at all redeeming or positive you have to say about Hikari?" DJ Mary does not ask this after about 15 seconds of 'uh's'. I'm somewhat surprised that she continued on the subject and did not aim to change it and move along, but I'm not complaining.

"She's got so much potential." That much is true, by the way. Hikari really does have great potential as a coordinator. "Don't get me wrong, I just feel that there are much better coordinators that never had a former Grand Festival champion whispering in her ear. Speaking of Ayako, I should probably be honest about how I feel about her."

Professor Oak, who now appears to have gotten himself back together and in shape, asks a question to tie up the loose end that I threw out. "And just how do you feel about... Ayako? Do we want to know?" I see that the professor is begging for something positive to come out of my mouth. Much like a dog begs for love and attention from his master, the professor won't stop until he gets what he wants. For his efforts, he will be rewarded with a vocalized treat.

Don't worry professor. You'll like this. "As it pertains to Ayako and my feelings for her, I'll be honest... I love her." What the professor didn't know was that the treat was the equivalent to a bag of sweet tarts or Sour Skittles. This bolder than bold statement caused, for the second time in this interview, the mouths of both the professor and DJ Mary to open wide like tunnels once more. This is, again, a true statement that I just made. "Would you care to explain why you... love Ayako?" DJ Mary simply has not learned. Oh well. I don't blame her for wanting to press this particular issue. After all, I just declared my love for my childhood idol in front of the whole of the media. DJ Mary is a reporter first and foremost, and her modus operandi is to get the story. I am more than willing to play the role of the dealer, and provide this addict with her fix. I'm evil. I should be ashamed, leading her and everyone else that's either watching or listening on as if they were pets on a leash. Call me Nozomi, the ultimate in masterminds. I really could get used to this.

"Well, like I said, I watched Ayako when I was a young girl and thought at times to myself that she was the epitome of beauty. In her, there was everything in my heart and mind that I wanted to be, but couldn't be at the risk of compromising my integrity and being dishonest with myself. The fact is I'm not a girly-girl like the legacy leech known as Hikari. I've been active in sports like softball, basketball and gymnastics since I was five. And... there is no other way to put it than to just say that I had a childhood crush on her. Though it might sound silly now just thinking about it, I found myself attracted to her and made a point of never missing her appeals and never missing her do battle, with her pokemon at her side. That's why I say that I love her, because she's the reason why I am where I am right now. She's the reason why I train a Glameow. Why? Because she trained a Glameow. If not for her, I wouldn't be in what I consider to be the world's greatest occupation and the last great sport of kings and queens. No. Scratch that. It never feels like work to me. Everyday I wake up, I'm thankful because I get to go out there and have fun, with me and my great pokemon at my side."

"Are there any final remarks you would like to make before we wrap up here?" Professor Oak has had some time to calm himself, because he looked very nervous in many parts of this interview. I honestly feel bad because some of the comments I made were very critical, and categorically false. But if this doesn't drive Hikari to want to be better, nothing will, and that is the consolation I get for making these remarks. After all, my plan is not just for me, it's for both of us, and I need no help inspiring myself.

"There may be better coordinators out there, with more powerful pokemon and more effective strategy in their coordinating, but nobody... absolutely nobody will work harder than me. You won't get that from Hikari, because it is not a priority on her list. She doesn't have the desire to do it like I do. She thinks that you can learn this trade through osmosis, but if not later, soon she will get a very rude awakening. She doesn't have the parent that was denied his dream by his parents. Her mom got to live out her dream and then some. In me, there is a part of my late father and his undying love and passion for all things pokemon that lives in his only child every single day. So, in closing, whenever I'm going out there, I'm slowly but surely building my legacy into a strong tower that will never waiver. Hikari will never get this opportunity seeing as how much of her legacy was built without her even stepping foot into a contest house." And, speaking of towers, our foundation to our strong tower is finished. Our genesis has now been written.

"And... with that ladies and gentlemen, that was Nozomi, one of the many... fired up and excited coordinators here at the Sevii Islands First Years Challenge. We hope to see more of her in the coming months, as she aims for what she claims is her ultimate goal, the Sinnoh League Grand Festival Cup. Nozomi, on behalf of the 'Pokemon Talk' crew, we thank you for being here with us today." Professor Oak, despite his jaw dropping on more than one occasion remained professional throughout the interview, giving me a thank you prior to the shows ending. "The pleasure was all mine, DJ Mary and professor." I end the interview short and simple.

DJ Mary now gets to do what I'm sure she wanted to do from about a third way through the interview. Move on to something or someone else. "Folks, stay right where you are because coming up after this brief timeout, more interviews from the rookie coordinators from all around the world. For Professor Samuel Oak, I'm DJ Mary, and you've been listening or watching Pokemon Talk on the Road!" The 'ON AIR' sign is no longer lit up, and the interview has ended. I don't think I'll truly know the impact I've made until after I leave the outdoor studio.

Uh oh. Maybe I spoke too soon, because I think I may have lit a fire underneath the tails of both DJ Mary and Professor Oak. They are both giving me the dirtiest of looks right now. I'm talking about the kind of looks people give a person when they are about to choke the life out of you. As I say my goodbyes to both DJ Mary and the professor, they hesitantly bring out their hands for me to shake. They are not exactly enamored with me right now and that's saying the very least. They didn't even respond back to me when I said my good-byes. Interesting to note is that they remained professional on the air, but showed their true colors and feelings towards me as soon as we wrapped up business. As I left the outdoor studio, I began to see the effect my interview had with the members of the studio, as they are likewise giving me the same dirty looks that Mary and the Professor gave. When I tried to say goodbye to Randall, he wouldn't even speak to me. He seemed like such a nice guy, too. Oh well.

I didn't eat prior to my interview, so upon leaving the studio, I took a quick trip to a restaurant near the boardwalk. As I waited to be seated, I felt very uncomfortable as there were about four or five people waiting along with me, and all of them were giving me the same types of stares that the producers and hosts at the studio were giving me. When I tried to sit down with any one of them, they made the lame-ass excuse that their seat was taken, or they simply left their seat to sit somewhere else, or they stood up until their party was called.

I knew exactly what was going on when I saw the large plasma screen along with several other television screens placed around the building and radios at most of the table booths. These people had either just seen or heard my interview and appeared to be royally pissed off at me for my comments, primarily the ones focused on Hikari. I tried to start a conversation with someone, and if the conversation didn't work, that would be my fault. I wanted to try and break the monotony of this tense situation, and hear a voice—anybody's voice that wasn't my own. If I were to talk to the wrong person, I would have put myself in unnecessary danger. It turns out the person I talked to was my roommate for the week, Cindy. Her attitude initially appeared to be the same as everyone else I've seen in the last thirty minutes, and the fact is that if looks could kill, I wouldn't have made it out of the outdoor interview, much less the restaurant.

"Oh... it's you." Aside from the waitress who harshly told me to sit down and wait, and the one person who said their vacant seat was taken, these are the most words that have been spoken to me since my very recent interview. "Just so you know, I talked to Hikari not that long ago on the phone, and she's looking for you." Cindy and Hikari met during day one of the exhibition. They hit it off real well and Cindy told me that she really thought Hikari could be one of the best ever, even better than her mother Ayako. The primary reasoning behind this was that Cindy had not met any other coordinators over the week that had the kind of natural confidence within herself that Hikari did. She told me about Hikari on day two, and I was more or less indifferent, attempting to not let Cindy in on my plans, or the fact that I even knew who she was. At this point, I've been found out and simply told her that I had met Hikari before and did not have a pleasant experience with her at the time. Thankfully, she didn't question me any further on the matter.

"I take it that she's not happy with the things I said, right?" I knew the answer to this, but I just needed the confirmation. All Cindy said to me was, "Damn right." In a way, it was the completion of step two; get Hikari fired up. "I suggest you watch yourself, because you're going to let loose a firestorm of ill will from the pokemon press. Can you really live with everyone feeling this way about you?"

I'm a lot more comfortable speaking to Cindy, primarily because she is the only person that has spoken to me since my interview. "You're talking to me. That's more than what I can say about everyone else I've run into this afternoon." "Well, it's not really out of any sympathy towards you, because eventually, you'll have to suffer the consequences of your actions. Personally, I think you have some moxie to say the things you said, though I found them quite unnecessary. If you said you had a bad experience with Hikari before, I don't see how it wouldn't have benefited you to just say your peace to her in a private setting. There are some coordinators out there that I would like to say some unadulterated words to, but... I don't. You did though, and… in my book, that deserves some credit."

Through Cindy's words, I realized that she did not feel as badly about the comments that I made towards Hikari as everyone else apparently did. I counted myself as fortunate, because the fact that she was even talking to me when no one else was meant that at least I wouldn't be completely ostracized for the remainder of my stay at the Sevii Islands. Heck, the fact that she showed some semblance of concern for me made me feel better than when I walked into the restaurant. "Thanks for your concern, Cindy, but you shouldn't worry about me. I know what I'm doing."

"Chalmers, party of one." a voice barks out loud. Chalmers is of course Cindy's family name.

Her name was called to a table and she left me by simply saying "Whatever you say, Nozomi." Though my face never showed it, I was smiling inside knowing that the rest of the weekend wouldn't be a total loss. I decided to just leave without being seated and spend the remainder of the day in my room, with my pokemon.

* * *

October 20, 2006 

I woke up on day six (Friday) of the rookie challenge, and found the seeds of my falsified cynicism have grown and produced some appealing fruit. On the front page of the newspaper, there is a very large picture of me sitting with DJ Mary and Professor Oak as I say my peace concerning Hikari. There is a long column where I am bashed by a noted reporter and editorials deep within the paper that say things much worse than what a respected periodical would allow from their beat writers. For the most part, I shrug it off, because they are only referring to the fake Nozomi I've created and not the real person. Had they been referring to the real person, I would have been hurt, but I won't give this glamorized press more than a second thought.

After going to the hotel's breakfast bar and getting even more stares from people, I decided to take this particular day from the rookie challenge off. I planned to just spend this day with my pokemon, as we lounged at the beach as a means of blocking out the people that have been staring a hole into me everywhere I've went these last 24 hours or so. Going to the boardwalk, I get even more stares. A part of me would like nothing more than to break the monotony with the clichéd quote, 'take a picture, it'll last longer,' but I remain silent throughout this trek. I say nothing and through the course of this walk, you could hear a pin drop. That is until...

"HEY ASSHOLE," someone yelled. I turn around and am rocked with a quick stiff punch right in the center of my face. It was strong enough to knock me down to the ground where the back of my head landed on a hard surface. I presume that this hard surface is concrete. My eyes rolled into the back of my head for a moment. About five seconds passed, and I regain my equilibrium, though I don't get up from the floor. At this point, I am pretty sure I am bleeding through a broken nose because of the shot. My vision clears long enough for me to see a female coordinator with blue hair, a black vest, a white hat and a pink skirt. Hikari was the one who knocked me down to the ground, and to my surprise, screamed out that obscenity. As for the punch, goddamn did it ever hurt! I may be injured, but at the same time, I am impressed. She proved Isaac Newton's third law to be correct. For my action of saying those negative things about Hikari, I got introduced to the equal and opposite reaction via the athletic right cross of Hikari, who with this shot heard 'round the pokemon world is now one step closer to becoming my new rival. Once my mind confirms that this was Hikari's doing, I start to slowly lose use of my senses until everything turns black.

It's a familiar feeling, though I haven't felt this in a very long time.

* * *

A/N: Whew, that was quite a chapter! Well, I realize that was a lot to digest, but subjects like Nozomi's father Keiichi and her late best friend Makoto will be discussed in future chapters. Forgive me if you believe that Hikari would be out of character saying the obscenity that she did and punching Nozomi, but I felt that the chapter had to end with a bang. If it were me in Hikari's position, regardless of age, I probably would have done the same thing, or something of that magnitude. Remember the story is somewhat Alternative Universe due to the original characters and timeline, but that shouldn't discourage anyone from no longer reading. Speaking of which, remember to read and review with your constructive criticism and check the author's page for more updates on these and other stories. 


	3. I Don't Know What The Hell I'm Doing

Sharing

As the coordinators neared the end of the First Years Challenge, the last chapter ended with a knockout shot. Hikari punched the lights out of Nozomi about one day after an interview she made with the press during the Sevii Islands rookie challenge. Nozomi claims that it will be the shot heard 'round the pokemon world, but will it be enough to spark a rivalry the magnitude of which Nozomi desires to have?

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Pokemon, a creation of one Satoshi Tajiri, and is produced domestically (in the United States) by Pokemon USA/TAJ/The Pokemon Company, and internationally by Shogakukan and OLM. I personally own nothing and make nothing by writing this. Please do not flame.

(Chapter 3- I Don't Know What the Hell I'm Doing)

* * *

My eyelids feel heavy. The memories of what happened to me whenever it happened to me are starting to return much like my senses. Despite this small victory, the sense of time has not returned to me with such earnest, and I have no idea how much time has passed between the punch and now. What woke me from my indeterminable period of slumber were several voices in commotion that were either surrounding me or near me. I know from the voices and the things they say that my injuries must have warranted a trip to the emergency room. I heard phrases like 'mild concussion' and 'full recovery,' and I am content knowing that whatever damage Hikari caused to my person with her one punch, it won't affect our rivalry later on. Perhaps most important is the fact that I likely won't suffer any permanent damage. It doesn't mean that the punch didn't hurt like hell. Perhaps I underestimated daijobu girl's athleticism. That was my mistake. 

This time that I safely presume I'm spending laying a hospital bed allows me to think about the last week in great detail. Though I can't help but reminisce about the fact that being on a hospital bed is not a strange experience for me, I quickly bury those thoughts as they are simply in the past. As far as the present and future is concerned, when I think about what Cindy said, asking me if I could live with much of the media and coordinating fans at large scrutinizing me and my every move, I begin to get nervous. Tabloids and shock journalists around the country and world will take the place of a modern day Rembrandt, Picasso, or van Gogh and paint a portrait of me to the general public as the girl who set out to corrupt the sport of coordinating and its participants with her words of disdain towards the second generation coordinator.

The internet message boards and forums will post glorified garbage about my background, and spin it to make it appear that I'm a troubled individual starving for attention and cheap notoriety. Most normal people would throw their hands up in the air and shout out loud 'Is it all worth it,' in the face of these odds, but if the media wants to fight with pen, pencil, paper and computers with internet connections, I'll simply have to fight back with something that is scores more powerful than those four weapons of mass deception. I'll use my mind, body and soul. I'll simply have to be sharp in mind, conditioned in the body and fearless in the soul to make it all worth it.

In all likelihood, the best way for me to flawlessly get this plan to work without any help from outsiders is to truly live the 'person' that I portray to the media 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. When I analyze the parts of the interview that I can remember, I saw a lot of me in the interview. The only clear differences were the magnitude of my speaking, attitude and arrogance. In other words, what I let the media see of me was ironically enough me. That is, me with the volume turned up at full blast. Although the real me is somewhat shy, I think that this could help me open up more, even though I will be playing the 'bad guy' in this feud.

I think further along the line and I find more difficulties in my master plan. Fully embracing myself in this character that I've created for my rivalry with Hikari will probably alienate me from the people I care for the most. My mother Hitomi, like many of the fans of pokemon, will either see or hear the interview I've conducted (if she hasn't already) and wonder out loud what has gotten into her only daughter. She has always been a proponent of me speaking my mind when warranted, but I doubt that she planned for me to ever declare my intense dislike for a coordinator I've only met twice in my life. My mother and I have a special bond, and if there were ever anyone that I would share this plan with, it would most likely be her. Only because she can be trusted above all the other people in my life.

I reiterate to myself; lying in a hospital bed allows you a lot of time to think. But perhaps now I'm now ready to open my eyes again and see even more dirty looks from the doctors, nurses and orderlies at attendance which I believe are currently surrounding my still and resting body. Maybe I'll have to answer more questions about my sanity and hear more innuendoes about the respect, or lack thereof, that I have for my fellow coordinators. I suppose I'll have to have what the older people refer to as a thick skin, and not let any uneducated and uninformed remarks break me. It will be entirely up to me to stand up to the media monster and remember that the ends to the plan will ultimately justify the means.

To be quite honest, I would be very content with simply sleeping through the rest of the First Years Challenge, unless of course I haven't already done that. I would be very content not having to talk to any other reporters or speculators, for now. I am starting to feel much better than what I believe was about an hour or so. Now I am looking forward to opening my eyes and seeing a bright light shining above my face. I look forward to and gaily invite the doctors caring for me to give me a diagnosis of my health. In that vein, I look forward to someone talking to me, who I can only hope won't judge me for my past actions. Most important, I look forward to as I leave the ER and the Sevii Islands, furthering my feud with Hikari and following through with the plan as long as is needed. But first, it's time for me to open my eyes and see the light.

Here goes.

* * *

Damn it. That's the wrong light. 

I ask weakly, "How the hell did you get in here, Hikari?" To be honest, I didn't mind the fact that she was here. She obviously was blowing off steam when she punched me in the face, and if she wants to have a non-violent conversation with me, then I am more than welcome to rap. To say the very least, Hikari has a very ticked off demeanor emblazoned on her face. This is a look that would gleefully shout to the world that if you look at me the wrong way, a body part on your person will be broken. "You probably should be in jail right now. You're the one who punched me in the face. I could press charges on you for putting me..." I halt my speech as Hikari puts her hand up near my face, more specifically my mouth. At this point, I took it as a polite way of telling me to shut the hell up without actually saying it. Considering the fact that I was somewhat incapacitated and rendered unable to effectively defend myself from another knockout shot, or possibly worse, I obeyed the silent command and listened to whatever Hikari had to say. I am all ears, Hikari.

"All I want from you," she says in the most stoic and unaffected tone I can ever remember hearing being spoken to me in my entire life, "...is an apology. Give me a public apology and tell the whole world that you didn't mean those sick thoughts and that you were only joking. Now can you give me a one word answer of 'yes,' and I'll leave this room and let you recover from your whiplash?"

I'm somewhat confused about the language she's using. "Wait. You said whiplash? You mean to tell me, that I didn't get knocked out from your punch?" "No." She's quite aggravated at the fact that I did not answer her original question, but I believe she understands that despite my 'feelings' for her, my health must come first. Even though she is ticked off, she doesn't want me dead... I hope. "Then what happened to me? Why am I in the hospital right now?" I beg to Hikari.

"When I punched the living daylights out of you… I didn't actually punch the living daylights out of you. The back of your head fell onto hard concrete and..." Hikari, I suppose to emphasize her point proceeded to snap her fingers. "...out went the lights. Now that you know that you'll live and won't suffer any permanent damage, what's your answer to my question?"

I knew that I could not give her what she wanted. Not if the rivalry was actually going to work. "Hell no. I'm not apologizing to you for the truth." If my job was to be the biggest son of a bitch to someone who never did or said anything out of line to me personally, I have succeeded and then some. Hikari is starting to get strawberry red in the face upon hearing my response. It obviously was not what she was looking forward to hearing, and at this point she is fighting a losing battle trying to hide her outright anger. I break the silence after about ten seconds. "Now that I've answered your question, will you answer mine? If you are the one who punched me, how did you get into the ER to see me? If I recall correctly, there was a large crowd of people near us. Someone had to have seen you do the act, and then have you turned in for assault. So I ask you again, how did you get in here? After all, I was the one who asked a question first, and your question has already been answered, so out with it."

She's still mad, but knows that no matter what she wanted and no matter how hard she tries to fight the issue, I already gave her my answer. She has softened, but only a little bit. "Nozomi. Nozomi, Nozomi, Nozomi." She looks disappointed in me, and I suppose it's because I won't give her an apology, but it could be something else. "For someone who I'm sure believes is a very intelligent and very smart young girl, you're downright clueless as it pertains to our current situation. If you've seen the front pages of the newspapers or looked at the morning news, you'd know that not many people are in favor of your comments on live airwaves. I'd estimate that about 90 of all the people on that beach were either fans or coordinators, and if they didn't hear or see what you said live, then they saw your face in the newspaper, sunglasses and all, or they saw you and heard your comments on every radio and TV station in the whole freakin' world.

"You my friend are public enemy number one in the entire pokemon world. So when the people around me found out that I'm the one who took you out when you said all that crap about me and made me look like the biggest crock in the history of all coordinating, everyone on the boardwalk played dumb when the ambulance came to take you away. I made up a story where you accidentally walked into a nearby door that opened in front of you. You weren't able to protect yourself in time, so you fell backwards and the back of your head hit a patch of hard concrete on the side of the boardwalk which caused your lights to go out."

The story seems believable enough. Someone who tried to come up with an alibi in that short length of time would more than likely not consider such details of the scene of the incident, but she did. Good for her, but not so much for my now bruised ego. "If you're wondering, you did bleed from the nose when I punched you. I cleaned the blood from your nose and relocated it back into place before the EMT's came. I warned them that I didn't know the extent of your injuries, and they said that because I was the one who called for an emergency, I should come along in case they needed some contact information."

"And you also had you pokedex and poketch with you, so they knew who they were dealing with when you got to the emergency room. The doctors put you on the non-urgent list, and left you to sleep. Once you woke up from your slumber, my plan was to confront you without anyone's knowledge and ask you to apologize. But when I come here with the intention of putting this black mark in our… relationship behind us and you don't give me what I and many others feel that I deserve, it's clear to me that you're being really hard headed and selfish right now because you're refusing to apologize for something that was downright unnecessary."

I think we can talk now. "Well, if you would have taken the time to hear my story, you would have understood where I was coming from when I said the things I said. Now, if you want to have a conversation like a normal human being and not like a savage street fighter, we can talk right now." I hope we can come to an understanding with this conversation in our rivalry and real life as well.

I see Hikari's face lose its red and she looks a lot mellower than two minutes ago. "Yeah. We can talk. Do you mind if I ask you a question first?" I simply shook my head and gave the go ahead to fire away. "If you won't give me an apology, will you at least tell me why you said the things you said?" Hikari sounded very somber when she asked this question. She's a far cry from the girl that punched me on the boardwalk and sent me to the ER. For that, I'll just count my blessings and while it is in the best interest of the budding rivalry to keep Hikari angry, I have to control what I say so that even if the bump didn't kill me, she wouldn't either.

My goal is to speak slowly and in no uncertain terms. "Hikari, have you ever stopped to think about what your legacy will be as far as pokemon coordinating is concerned? You are in one of the worst possible positions as it pertains to building your own legacy and not building upon the legacy of your parent. You are a second generation performer in a trade where your mother had tremendous success. I'm not saying that you can't rise above and beyond the legacy that Ayako built."

"There have been great second generation athletes that went on to make their own names, and in some cases become more recognized than their mom or dad. What I'm trying to say is that people may never give you the respect you deserve..." I pause to collect my thoughts as so far I've made a lot of valid and sensible points. These were done so that I could end this thoughtful and intelligent rhetoric with a phrase of senseless garbage that should inspire Hikari to want nothing more than for me to eat my words. She'll want nothing more than for me to eat those words that are garbage, that is.

"...people will never give you the respect you deserve because of the silver spoon you were born with in your mouth. Truth hurts, daijobu girl." If Hikari's eyes would have gotten any wider, they would have popped out of their sockets. The red has returned to her face, but now that hue of said red can be equated to the color of my hair, which is a very bright red. She wants to say something, but she is stammering just trying to get the first word out of her lips. Hikari is shocked at what I just said, and I don't blame her.

"What... what the hell is your problem? You obviously have a problem with me and my background, so spill it! I'll admit I don't hide the fact that I am a second generation coordinator, but this isn't something I promote to the distant cosmos, either. I'm trying to get better, and I don't need my mother whispering in my ear every 30 seconds to improve at my trade. Just... I want to know, what in the world are you trying to prove by spewing this... venom about me every chance you get?"

All right. She makes a valid point, so I'll cast out my bait and see if she bites. "Hikari, do you welcome challenges with open arms?" I am going to add some elements of reality in my speech to get this rivalry fired up. "When I first saw you about four months ago at the Jubilife City contest house, I knew that you had the heart to become a number one coordinator. The problem is that heart can only get you so far in this business before skill, talent and ability in pokemon and the art of coordinating must take full precedent. A pretty face will never make great headway in this sport. We don't have nor want any Anna Kournikova's, and that is for the best. Like I said, you have the potential to be one of the best in the world, Hikari." I need to really watch my tongue so as not to blow my cover and ruin the plan. It's time to refocus myself, and I know of no better way to do that than with part two of my plan.

"But I don't think you can challenge yourself to rise above mediocrity and become a great champion like Ayako. That's why I'm going to challenge you right here and now to get your first contest ribbon, and get the ball rolling for the other four by the end of this calendar year. Give those skeptics something to look at and silently nod their heads to, and put a feather in your cap as well. So will you accept my challenge or not?" I'm far from finished with my rival-to-be, but this is the launching pad set up just for her to fly like an ace pilot for the world famous Blue Angels. She just has to accept the challenge, and if she is as self-conscious of people's thoughts of her as I think she is, then without a doubt she will bite the bait.

I start to see a sly but thoughtful smile develop in the face of Hikari. She is stroking her chin, which tells me she is thinking about the challenge, and I'm sure she's more than willing to accept. "You've got me intrigued. You clearly don't think I have what it takes to make it big in the coordinating scene, much less win one contest ribbon by the end of 2006. But Nozomi, think about what you've just put on the table; you have given me ten whole weeks to polish my battle strategy, and in any one of the many contest houses in the Sinnoh region, win a contest ribbon outright. What's in it for me if I accept this challenge of yours?"

There must always be a catch. Too bad I didn't plan beforehand what the catch for this friendly wager would be. I think and I think, and I think some more. I may be developing a headache due to either the nonstop thinking I've done for the last 15 seconds or the post-concussive effects are screwing with my brain. With my luck, it's probably a potent combination of both. Damn it, I am going to have to come up with something and quick. I need to think of something that Hikari will agree to, but something that in the grand scheme of things won't compromise any tension in our rivalry.

Hikari is starting to get very impatient with me. "So Nozomi, can you come up something to lure me into this challenge you've cooked up?" She is now essentially egging me on. She is pleading for me to come up with something real good, so I'll have to do just that. "I know something has got to be prepared in that steel trap you call a mind, so out with it! I'm on the edge of my seat, so don't disappoint me. Come on, Nozomi. Make me fall off my seat in shock!"

Amazing. Even though I can tell she is getting very antsy awaiting the stipulation in the challenge I laid out, she still can crack semi-jokes with some wordplay and keep that smile plastered on her face. I admire that attitude out of her. You would almost think that she had completely forgotten that I said those nasty things about her on the air. After even more thinking, I think I have finally come up with something that Hikari will agree to.

"If you can win a contest ribbon by the end of this calendar year, I will do something I've never done before. I will wear to my very first pokemon contest of 2007; brace yourself for this one, Hikari... I Nozomi, will wear a dress." I got her attention and then some, as once I told her that I would wear a dress to my first contest of the new year, with the proviso that she win a contest ribbon by the end of 2006, she did a double take, with both eyes damn near protruding out of her sockets once more. Now I'm getting an emotion I did not expect from Hikari at this moment. She is giggling like an amused schoolgirl. That giggling has after about ten seconds evolved into hearty laughter, and the hearty laughter has now grown up into a doubled over expression of delectation on her part. Hikari has laughed so much in the last minute that she has started to experience shortness of breath. I haven't gotten an answer from her and she hasn't spoken a word since I laid out the stipulation should I lose the wager. It has just been laughter now for about the last 90 seconds. It's almost as if someone forgot to turn off the laugh track in her brain.

"Do you need a plastic bag to help you breathe again," I ask sarcastically. She starts to regain her composure after my remark. The expression of delectation has since devolved into light laughter, which would fall into the category of equal parts giggling schoolgirl and hearty laughter. She looks in my direction for the first time in the last two minutes. "Are you shitting me? No offense, Nozomi, but you don't look like the kind of girl who would put on a dress for anything short of all the gold in Fort Knox." I should not be surprised that she said that, because she's the same person who called me an 'asshole' before punching me in my face, however long ago that was, but I am surprised. Now I'm looking at her wide eyed for about two seconds and giving her much more than just a passing glance.

I do this until I regain my equanimity and then proceed to ask the girl a question with a slight tinge of sarcasm attached to my voice like a single flower corsage is attached to the single breast of a tuxedo. "Hey, hey! What's with the language? Where in the world did you learn those vulgarities? Such a sweet innocent girl like you has to resort to using four letter words to get her points across? What has happened to the youth of today? You kiss Ayako with that mouth?" She harshly interjects and puts the squeeze of her left hand on my left leg, "Leave my mother out of this, all right?" I'm shocked that the only response that she made to my soapbox rant was when I made the comment about Hikari's mother Ayako, but I don't argue this detail. 'Alright' is all I say to her because when I brought up Ayako, she got really mad. I don't want to push any issues with her mother... yet. There is a time and a place for everything and that time is certainly not now.

"Forgive my... liberalism, but you have admittedly pushed me to the limit more than once before. Shit. What the hell am I saying? You've pushed me to the limit more than once in this conversation that were having right now, so you shouldn't be surprised hearing it from my lips. It's obviously not something that my mother knows about, but kids in grammar school talked, and I listened. There are people out there that say its good therapy for expressing your anger with something or someone, and I tend to agree with that logic. Consider this; I can at least look you in the face without wanting to throw up, hurt you, or worse. That has to speak for something." This was a more than interesting explanation for why she curses. I thought referring to it as 'liberalism' was somewhat odd, but it got me thinking, and although my head hurts at the moment, I am a person who likes to think. Maybe I'll sleep on that tomorrow. It could turn out to be just a humorous use of vocabulary. Did I mention that I also like vocabulary?

"I'll say it again, you've got me intrigued," she continues. "I mean, I'm sure you like to keep abreast of the results of contests throughout Sinnoh. If that's the case, then you should be wise to the fact that I've made it to two finals already (Note: Over the last six weeks, Hikari was able to get to another contest final in a losing effort) so I have no trouble rising to the occasion and making it to the main event. Whether I can or can't do that little bit more to earn my own ribbon will be entirely up to me, but your challenge has put a whole new spin on things. So with that, I'll accept." She extends her hand so that we may shake to the agreement. I see on her visage a smile of approval if such a thing even exists.

With the final two words that escaped from her mouth, I now start to reveal to the girl my own smile of approval. I raise my right hand so that we can make the agreement official with the shake of two hands. I move my hand to hers preparing for the first nail in our rivalry to be driven into lumber, but Hikari suddenly pulls her hand away from my potential grasp.

"I'll accept your challenge when I find out more about why you said the things you said in your interview. Until that point, we do not have a deal." Damn, Hikari drives a hard bargain. I'm almost tempted to ask who really has the mind like a steel trap. I guess the saying is true about birds of a feather. We both appear to have great memories, and with that said, I now know that Hikari is nowhere near as feather-headed as most would perceive because she hasn't forgotten much if anything about my interview. This is really a good thing for me though as I can continue to be the antagonist that Hikari needs to build the confidence necessary to become a great coordinator. She has no problem with her confidence as a person though, which was obvious from the moment I saw her as I awoke from my slumber. I woke up and there she was, positioned above me blocking the bright examination light which is used most often by surgeons and dentists to practice their crafts. Hikari picked her spot, and awaited me to wake up while the doctors tended to more pertinent matters. There is no way this girl has any problems expressing herself. She just has to know how to go about it in the correct fashion.

"Exactly what else do you want to know?" I'm prepared for just about anything she's going to ask because I have to be. She looks somewhat reluctant in response to my question. "In your interview, you talked about how you- this is hard for me to say when I think about it. You said that growing up, you idolized my mother and that you..." I can tell it's difficult for her to even say the dreaded L-word. "you... loved my mother. Now, I know you gave DJ Mary and Professor Oak an explanation, but I want to know just how in the world can you put my mother on such a great pedestal, but treat me, her daughter, as if I'm this bad person when all I ever did was be my mother's only child, and I had no control over that. Just tell me why you are so mean to me, but so considerate of my mother and everything she has done in her life?" Hikari at this point is on the verge of tears, and I can't help but feel bad, because the fact is she doesn't deserve to be treated the way I've treated her.

I might feel bad, but this is exactly the type of tough love that my father instituted in me from an early age. It taught me that there are few people in this world that we can truly rely on to not leave us when we are in need. One way you can assure yourself that you won't easily fail or be disappointed is to do most things for you. You have to provide for yourself and be your own inspiration. I think about the things dad said, and they work very well in this instance. Hikari will toughen up because of it, and that is the ultimate goal of this conversation, our rivalry and beyond. The only way I could possibly see a flaw in any of this is if I get too deep when I explain my feelings for Ayako. From what I've seen and heard, she is the type of person who has certain triggers that will push her either close to or over the edge of reason. One clear and obvious trigger is her mother. I can only guess that they have a very good relationship and that Hikari will come to the aid of and defend Ayako when others use negative speech towards her.

"Your mother... she was an original, and that's what made her stand out from the crowd. She didn't beg for any attention. It wasn't a... big thing that attracted me to her, rather all of the little things she did and all that she represented. But then comes along a privileged young woman; the offspring of the former Grand Festival champion. She arrives to the many contest houses all across the Sinnoh region, and becomes a darling to the mass media at large. After you had your first pokemon contest, the same one in which Satoshi participated in with his Aipom, I along with many other coordinators would be bombarded with news stories and forums in which talking heads bantered about Twinleaf town's 'Hometown Girl'. Many people were talking about and had their eyes and ears wrapped around the daughter of the former Grand Festival Champion Ayako. Time in and time out I would see your face, and after a while it got so sugary sweet, it became downright sickening to the taste buds."

"The talk of the town and much of the region has been about 'Ayako's Girl'. You are going to have to eventually live up to the hype, or fall into second-generation obscurity. You don't want to be considered a failure in the eyes of your mother… do you?" Hikari is starting to look very uneasy after my final remark. "You... you don't... my mother wouldn't think of me any more or less if I never won a single contest ribbon, or if I won eight Grand Festivals. You don't know a damn thing about me and you sure as hell don't know a damn thing about my mother to even insinuate that bull!" She's fired up, but whether she can reach her peak and remain there or fall from her summit will be entirely up to her.

I have to keep up the act and get her aggravated further. I continue my rant with a big smile pasted on my face. "Face it, daijobu girl. Much of your act is recycled from your mother. There is nothing particularly original or different about you compared to Ayako." Hikari is now pointing a finger in my face. "I'm not asking you, I'm telling you; stop talking about me and my mother like that. Either you stop it or you'll regret it!" I don't stop. I can't stop. I won't stop for nothing. I'm on a roll, and to stop would be like telling me to stop living. To stop would be like telling me to roll up into a ball, abandon my beliefs and die. I am persistent, but I am also somewhat of an idiot for not listening to her.

"I said that I loved Ayako, and that's the gospel truth. Right in front of me is not Ayako, rather I see a copycat of a coordinator. A carbon copy of her genes implanted in a glorified phony. You're not worthy of carrying her hand-me down dresses, let alone being her daughter. And in closing, might I say how ironic it is that your name means light, yet the day you came into this world was so very, very dark." I think that was enough. She is breathing really hard and her shoulders are going up and down like pistons on an engine. Her teeth are grating, and if she were a bomb, she would have exploded by now.

Hikari starts to tread close to me, and I get really concerned as she has a calm look on her face, but this is a calm look of anger. I can't escape from the bed, because I am being restrained by two Velcro straps across my upper and lower abdomen. I am scared that I may have gone too far with my comments and broke a switch or trigger within Hikari that will cause bodily harm towards my person. These thoughts of mine may be well founded as I see Hikari's left hand and arm come up. I know what's coming and I can't stop it. Though the punch caused me to bleed and was step one to me receiving a concussion, this forthcoming slap will be a much bigger blow to my psyche than the punch. I was blindsided by the punch, but this slap is something I will see coming from a mile away.

As anticipated, the slap stung like hell. If I were a gambling girl, I would be willing to bet the farm that there is a very large red imprint of the left hand of Hikari on my left cheek. That much I expected. What took me by surprise however was when Hikari suddenly grabbed me by the collar of my orange vest. I am face to face with the girl in a position where if either of us got any closer, we would be in a lip lock. We are as far as you could possibly get from being in a lip lock, however, as I lock my glaze into her eyes, and I am nearly scared out of my boots. Hikari's eyes are stone cold with ice, and she is silent, as she was throughout the slap and to this current point, where she is now grabbing me by my neckband.

"You bastard. You... you coward! You've got no guts at all, because you wouldn't tell any of this to me face to face. You just had to shout out to the world your feelings towards me and make me look like the biggest joke the coordinating world has ever seen. You look and feel so big and bold when the lights are on bright, but when you're all alone Nozomi, I'm sure you see yourself for what you really are; a bully. You... you're nothing but a damn bully! A craven, gutless coward who gets her kicks from putting others down so that she can feed her insatiable ego. Your a shell of what you represent in front of a camera or a microphone, and in all likelihood, you would just as quickly curl up in the fetal position when someone decides after so much mental punishment to no longer put up with your bullshit and actually stand up to you. You're not woman or human being enough to actually stand by your words- I mean stand by your words 100 percent all the way to your damn grave."

"I'll say it one more time, because I can see it in your eyes clear as crystal. You are weak. You're weak because you still haven't given me a sensible reason for disliking me. I could care less whether you liked me in private or not, but you brought out these feelings to the forefront, and I'm suffering because of it. I have family spread out in all of the various regions and I'm sure that when they looked at their newspapers or morning newscasts, they did not expect to hear this... rubbish about their relative. And speaking of relatives, you talk all day and all night about how you loved my mother, and how she is the major reason why you are a coordinator today. Well, I have news for you; you're not the only one. How the hell do you think I got here?"

"You didn't think I grew up wanting nothing more in my young life than to be just like my mother? You think I didn't put posters of my mother up on my walls alongside pictures of her, dreaming and praying to be even one-third the coordinator that she was? You don't think I cried when some of my classmates told me that my mother was overrated and couldn't cut it against their favorites? This was the atmosphere that I grew up in Nozomi, and it's all that I've ever known. So in that respect, you are not that different from me at all. We had the same inspiration growing up, so why am I the bad girl of the coordinating scene in your eyes? What makes me so dark and wrong and you so lily white and right?"

My mother had always told me since I was a young girl that you should be thankful for whatever fortunes come your direction. The fear in my eyes that Hikari so matter-of-factly (and correctly) acknowledged has decreased into a trickle of anxiety, as Hikari removed her hands from the collar of my shirt. She gives a look to suggest that she left her conversation open for me to answer the question posed to me just seconds earlier. Hikari has just given me a sample of what I can safely assume is what she's capable of when she is enraged. Again, I have to collect my thoughts to give the answer that she needs to hear and not the answer that she wants to hear.

"Just what have you proven as a coordinator?" I snicker inside realizing that I am answering most of her questions with inquiries of my own. It may be annoying for someone else who recognizes this gaffe, but to me it is amusing. It will all work out in the end for us, as our rivalry will be that much intense. If I can test her brainpower now, it will be so much easier later on when I'm on battlefields or contest houses against her and know what buttons to push. "You might be charming and cute and some would argue that you are beautiful, but none of that will ever matter. Only the end result will matter in the minds of the masses. They'll only want to know how many ribbons you've won or Grand Festival trophies you've won, but..." My speech is halted when Hikari, quick as a cat, grabs my collar again. This time she pulls me up to her level with great force, constricting my strapped-down torso.

"That's not fucking good enough!" she screams. This time I half expected the so-called 'f-word' or one of the more extreme vulgarities of the sort because she was slowly shaking her head in disapproval of my comments to her most recent question. She was trying to keep her composure, and the nonsense that came out of my mouth was too much for her to take lying down. I am legitimately concerned that she will hurt me more than I already am hurt, but that concern is something that she can't see lest I blow my cover for fear of my own lost life.

"Those things don't have a goddamn thing to do with me, and if you had been listening, that's what I was asking about. You were talking in your interview about how you didn't like me, not my skills. You were talking about how you didn't like the person. I'm not talking about coordinating or battling or anything else but me. And that's all that I'm asking of you. Tell me why you don't like me, and damn it, tell me now!" Just as forcibly as she grabbed me by my shirt, she let go of me and shoved me back onto the pillow of my bed. I am thankful for the soft surface because had my head landed anywhere else, I would have received concussion number two.

Beep... beep... beep... beep. I did not notice it until now, but amidst this pregnant silence perpetrated by Hikari's demands of me and the fact that I'm scared white in the face with her screaming, I could hear steady beeps that were gaining in speed. It was a heart monitor and I was connected to it. I had to have been connected to it since arriving to the ER, but didn't pay it any attention until my mind grasped for something to hang onto aside from the maddening stare of Hikari and her ear-piercing screams for my answer- my real answer to her question. The question she posed to me plain and simple was 'Why do I hate her?' Well, the real answer, which if I have anything to say about it (and I have everything to say about it as I am controlling this rivalry) Hikari will never hear, is that I don't hate her at all.

The image that I've attempted to create for the media and for her is of someone who is somewhat insecure. Just like I told myself when creating this rivalry, I wanted to create a role similar to the real me. I have insecurities and have had them for many years now. I kept it together for a minute or so, but I became extremely concerned when Hikari told me that I was weak. It hit me hard because there is some truth to what she is saying, but I'll be damned if I'll ever share it with her. When she said I was weak, it brought me back to a not-so-pleasant time in my childhood, when I felt very weak and thought I would never be able to do much for myself for as long as I lived. Keiichi, my father, had instilled in me from a young age that there is no greater honor that can be found in oneself than to be able to stand on your own two feet without the help of anyone else.

After suffering a severe and potentially crippling injury during an otherwise normal gymnastics practice, I had to go through rehabilitation which was an arduous and painful process that took place over two long years. The doctors who took care of me never beat around the bush with me or my parents saying that there would be a very good possibility that I would never walk properly again. These thoughts are beyond depressing and weigh on me like the world's largest burden, but I can't dwell on them. Therefore, I squash the thoughts and tend to the question that was previously posed to me.

"Why the hell should I have to explain myself to you?" For those keeping score, that's another question. "Can't we just agree to disagree? Besides, no one will take you seriously if you won't do it for yourself. That's why I laid down the challenge, because I don't think you have the drive to win the contest ribbon by the end of the calendar year. If you for some reason disagree with what I have to say, then you won't have any problems accepting it and leaving me alone." Hikari now looks frustrated with me, which is a far cry from her outright anger not that long ago. Count this as simply another instance where I should just be thankful.

"You're saying that it would be better for us to agree to disagree? To live and let live?" She reiterates my statement, I suppose to just clarify it in her mind and make sure that she missed nothing along the way. "You did lay down the challenge. If memory serves me right, if I can shove your words right back down your throat and win a contest ribbon by the end of 2006, you'll have to wear a dress. In my personal opinion, that end of the stipulation is fine, but I want you to know, Nozomi, I am very confident in my abilities and am sure I can earn my ribbon. I just have one issue."

"You have an issue with my challenge? Hikari, you have absolutely nothing to lose if you accept my challenge." "That's exactly my issue; I have nothing to lose, so there really isn't much of a challenge for me whether I took you up on your deal or not. I would have to have a reason to want to go out there and bust my ass to win."

"Okay, but you do have a reason. The embarrassment that I would feel going to a contest in 2007 wearing a dress that you hand picked for me, like something you wore at the Jubilife City contest should be enough incentive for you to take me up on my stipulation. Am I right?"

"Well, the thing is… you put something on the line, Nozomi, so I think it would only be fair that I give you the same. So here's my end of the deal. If I'm not able to win a contest ribbon in what is essentially the next 9-10 weeks, then I will... you know, in all fairness Nozomi, you put on the line your pride and beliefs of being who you are when you agreed to wear the dress if I win, so I'll put something on the line that I consider my pride and joy. Nozomi, should I lose... I'll shave my head bald, and I won't wear any wigs or hats to cover it up. That is how confident I am that I won't lose this wager."

I look at the girl as if she had grown a second nose on her forehead. Was she really willing to risk her hair to prove that she had what it took to make it in coordinating and to rub the contest victory back in my face? I honestly feel bad about going through with this, because if she shaves her head, it will take time for her hair to grow back. According to the terms of our deal, I would only have to wear a dress at one contest, and I could go back to wearing my vast collection of ornate tuxedos afterwards. Everything would go back to normal for me, but I can't say the same for Hikari if she were to lose.

"I'm sorry, but I think that's unfair to you. If you lose and have your head shaved, you have to live with that for however long it takes to grow your hair back. It could take anywhere from three to four months or more, while our deal states that if I lose I only have to wear a dress to one contest. If your so confident that you're willing to put your hair- what you claim is your pride and joy on the line, I should be able to at least match that or do you one better. So I'll alter my stipulation. If you win the contest ribbon by the end of this year, I will wear dresses to pokemon contests for the first 120 days of the New Year. So how's that sound to you, Hikari?"

"You said earlier that we should just learn to agree to disagree, right?"

"Yes, I did."

"Well, giving some thought to what you said about you only having to wear the dress one time, whereas I would have to live with my bald head for the next few months plus, you made a more than valid point. I'll agree to that if you agree to me getting my head shaved. So, do we have a deal?" For the second time in our talk, which has more closely resembled a roller coaster ride at Six Flags Great Adventure than a conversation, Hikari puts her right hand out. Clearly, she is satisfied enough with the stipulations in place that she wants to make it official. Also, she may have gotten a clue, knowing that I won't share much more of the reasoning behind my dislike even if she pushes very hard. She learns quickly. In her mind, she probably thought that there was just no more use to push pushing if it would only lead to her choking me out of pure anger. This restraint saved the both of us a lot of trouble.

"Deal."

I, much like the last time the two of us went through this exercise, bring out my right hand after she brings out her own. This handshake appears to be genuine as we bring our hands together, mimicking the north and south poles of magnets that come together to form one. Speaking of magnets, I felt some sort of connection to my rival like she had electricity running through her veins. Perhaps it was nothing more than a quick electric shock that I was feeling when our hands came in contact with one another's, or it could have been that her hand was significantly warmer than mine. I see no quick movements or form of apprehension on the face of Hikari and soon after contact from me and her is made. She has a very strong grip on me and I respond to it in earnest. From the moment we shook to our proposition to long after the moment both of us let go of each other's hand, we did not take our eyes off of each other. We also sported very sly but noticeable indications of smiles on each other's faces. Either of us could have stared a hole into one another if we had stayed in our hand-shaking position long enough.

"So it's a deal, Hikari?" I ask to confirm it in my heart and mind. "Absolutely," she replies without hesitation. "My only qualm about this entire situation is that I don't want either of us to back out of it."

"I really don't think you have to worry about that, Hikari. Have you seen or heard the media attention that my comments have been getting in just the last 24 hours or so?" Honestly, I had only seen a newspaper headline and editorial. I'm just playing up the things she told me earlier, and simply assuming that they are true. "Even though the press can't get a hold of you until after the rookie challenge ends, you can play up our little wager to the media and comment on my interview at the same time. Say... that we came to an understanding and we'll..."

"Oh no you don't," Hikari interjects. This was an instance of me being quite power hungry and Hikari saw right through it. Well, those that have never had power but all of a sudden have it dropped into their lap will often abuse it. I'll learn self-control, but I essentially told Hikari what to do (i.e. how to respond) about my slanderous discourse. How would anyone else react to being told what to do by someone who 'hates' them? Personally, I wouldn't respond with the greatest of glee.

"You had your chance to say what you wanted to say, and quite frankly, I don't remember you consulting with me as to what you would say when you spoke to DJ Mary and the Professor, so butt out! I'll say whatever the hell I want to say. Yes I will 'alert the media' concerning our bet, and yes I will let them know exactly what I thought about the things that you said on the air, but you don't need to get any advanced notice because I never got it when you embarrassed me on the airwaves. Besides, fair is fair, right Nozomi?" I believe the internet and video game lingo or leetspeak for what Hikari just did to me is called pwned. Hikari 'pwned' me by taking my actions over the last day and throwing them all back in my face in one fell swoop. I'm surprised and impressed because I didn't think she had it in her. And for the record, she was right about it not being fair for me to tell her what to say when she had no say.

I give off a fake hesitation before I answer Hikari's latest question. "You... yeah, you're right. Say whatever you want about me while you're at it. But I have one final question. The mass media machine will be coming out of the woodshed to hear your opinion about what I said yesterday. You will most likely be bombarded with questions from every direction about how you feel about me, about coordinating and all that good stuff. Are you prepared to face this firestorm of press and come out the better for it?" Thanks goes out to my roommate Cindy for providing me with some of that material to ask of Hikari.

"You need not worry or concern yourself about me, Nozomi," she replies with the sliest of tones. "The only thing I caution that you should worry yourself about is getting healthy. I want you to be at least 100 for when you have to flaunt your numerous frocks, because I don't plan on losing my long dark locks anytime soon. And don't even think about backing away from this one. The media won't allow it once I go public sometime in the next three to five days with our challenge. I really hope you know what you're getting yourself into."

I found that last statement to be a very arrogant one. I'm the one that originally made the wager, so of course I should know what I'm getting myself into. She obviously believes that there is no way she can lose in our stipulation versus stipulation wager. It's either that or she wants me to strongly believe that there is no other course of action for her other than the one which leads to victory. Is she trying to convince herself that she won't lose by going this route? They say if you say something in your head enough times you are liable to believe it and take it as fact. This may be the case, but I can't be too sure.

"I know what I'm getting myself into. I just hope you take styling lessons from cancer patients after the New Year, because..." before I can finish my styling tip for girls with bald heads, my speech is halted. "I'm not going to get my head shaved," she says with great vigor.

"But if you don't win a contest ribbon, then..." "I am NOT going to get my head shaved, and that's final. Do you comprehend?"

"Yes, and I suppose that we don't have anything more to say to each other... for now, at least." I think that the conversation that we had will be more than enough to spark the flame needed for 500 bonfires and one hell of a rivalry. Hikari is confident, but now she is confident in all the right things and for all the right reasons. She absolutely refuses to back down from my bullying and dismisses any rhetoric of mine that is not conducive to her being victorious. In other words, nothing I can or will do will faze her or keep her from her ultimate goal of not only keeping her hair, but the reward of seeing me parade around in contest halls region wide wearing dresses for the first 120 days of the year. That girl is sadistic, but some may argue that I brought all of this upon myself.

Some will say that it was wrong of me to use psychology and the spoken word in such a brash, haughty and potent combination to attempt to inspire Hikari to become so much better than she is now. Some would say that she would have been much better off if I had just stayed away from her business and let her make her own headway as a coordinator. What the detractors fail to understand is that this behavior in all likelihood was inside of Hikari for many years much like magma building inside of an active volcano. It is my feeling that the girl is more than capable of handling herself in front of critics the media and, perhaps most important, her new rival.

I got scared down to the soles of my feet when she pulled me by the collar of my shirt not once but twice. If she can use those tactics in a non-violent form to do the same to her opponents, they'll turn into jelly before the battles even commence. It will be completely up to her as to whether or not she can harness that pent up frustration and know when the most opportune time to use it will be, and right now that's the part which concerns me more than any other element in our rivalry. Will she know when the right time to get angry will be? Can she calm herself in the heat of battle? Will she know which combinations or attacks to use and when in a battle?

If she was able to get to two contest finals and many other contest semifinals without this form of preparation, perhaps I'm being nothing more than a worrywart. Forgive me, but I just can't help but feel skeptical. The thing is that I want... no. I need this rivalry to be not fair, not good and not even great. It must be absolutely perfect or it will not be effective. That is why no one can ever know what I am doing. I can never reveal to anyone that the feelings I portray towards Hikari are not genuine. Aside from the backlash that would come from the whole of the media, making sure that someone swears in confidence that they will never tattle about my plan would be too arduous a task even for me, and that is why it must stay my big secret. Leaking this story to the press could make someone quite wealthy when done at the right time, and nobody should ever capitalize on the success of someone else's misfortune.

"I suppose that there is nothing left to say. Oh, one final thing that I would like to say, Nozomi. If you thought it would be amusing to embarrass me in front of millions of people worldwide for... whatever agenda you may have, I should warn you that not if, but when I win our wager, well..." she takes a medium sized breath and then continues. "Let's just say that I have two large closets full of nice pastel colored dresses, including all of the frills and finally, and this is the cherry on top, lace and just about every outfit has a good quantity of lace."

"You'll have every male and female coordinator in Sinnoh doing double takes when you come out for your initial appeals and battles wearing something more suited for a flower girl in a wedding party than a hoyden like yourself. And that will be the ultimate revenge in my mind." She then flashes a smile and laughter that would be more suited for a superhero's evil arch nemesis than a rookie pokemon coordinator. She walks towards me and looks me square in the eye for what I presume is the final time today.

"Payback's a bitch, Nozomi, but you ought to know that, eh?" To add insult to injury, she lightly pats my left cheek; the same cheek that got slapped not that long ago, three times. She then proceeds to head for the door out of my room. As she heads to leave, she places a distinct strut and swagger in her step as I lay helpless in the bed looking at her swaying backside along with the rest of her body in a pendulum motion as she exits. 'Ciao, babe' are the final words that come out of her mouth before she finally leaves my room. Indeed there is a very fine line between confidence and arrogance. I'm not sure if Hikari has passed that yet, but if she hasn't, at this pace she eventually will.

I am now alone in the ER, going through all of the activity that has just occurred in our conversation. I am more confused than ever after our long, long talk. I feel groggy just thinking about everything that was discussed and I fell back into a deep sleep. Darkness has replaced light in my life once more as the world becomes a mere blur as the need for rest overrides all other things in my life right now. Once again, I am exposed to the nocturnal environment. This time I welcome it with open arms knowing what awaits me these next several hours. Pure undisturbed sleep is in fact not my enemy, but a welcome and long lost friend that has come to my home and stopped by for an extended visit.

* * *

October 21, 2006 

For those who seek the real story,

So much has happened over the past three days that I don't even care to write down in great detail my experiences on pen and paper. I will try not to bore anyone that is whoever may read this, with any great details. Fear not to those snooping for specifics, as the most important parts of the timeline will be covered. All others who dare to read further into this text should simply do the necessary research and fill any holes with said dirt.

I can now say without any reservations or apprehensions that my rivalry with Hikari has officially begun. It took a while, but the foundation to the house is now in place. Now it is simply a matter of how high I want to build this tower and for how long I can do it without things toppling over into a heap of rubble.

What essentially happened was that on Thursday afternoon, I did the interview with DJ Mary and the Professor Samuel Oak. That interview ran for about 15-20 minutes, and can be described as very scathing testimony on my part towards the second generation coordinator. After the interview, absolutely no one in the studio or outside who had just seen my fake candid comments would talk to me. Now admittedly I didn't ask anyone to talk to me after my conversation with Mary and the Professor, but nobody even talked to me to criticize me for my remarks. All that I got from people were stares and some more stares with an order of stares on the side. The only person who would voluntarily talk to me was my roommate for the Sevii Islands Rookie Challenge, Cindy.

After staying in my room for the remainder of that day, I took that Friday off planning to spend it on the beach with just me and my pokemon. That was the plan. I did not expect or plan for Hikari to pull the proverbial ace out of her sleeve and put me in the hospital for the remainder of Friday and Saturday morning. She blindsided me with a punch that caused a chain of events that led me to being hospitalized with a mild concussion. The length of time I was there was for precautionary reasons, as the doctors did not want to take any chances considering my youth and the prevailing "accidental circumstances" as Hikari put it to the physicians.

She cleverly forgot to mention that she was the one who toppled the first domino in what I anticipate will be a very long chain. Once they knew for sure that I was in the clear, they allowed me to rest alone in the ER. Hikari then snuck into my room unannounced and we talked for nearly one hour about my interview and much more. After she left, I got bombarded with questions from my doctors about my condition. I was told to meet with them on the final day of the challenge for a follow up on my health, was given a nose guard to use for the next month, and finally, I was cleared to head back to the hotel.

My plan was to fire Hikari up as much as I possibly could without her wanting to kill me in my incapacitated state. I used her mother Ayako, the fact that she is a second generation coordinator whose name is prolific in media because of her famous parent and her abilities in appeals and contests to fire her up. There were shocking moments from both parties, but for the most part the conversation stayed civil.

The most important thing of note is that I issued a challenge to the coordinator, which states that if Hikari is unable to win a contest ribbon by the end of this calendar year, then she will be forced to have her head shaved bald. That stipulation was entirely her own idea, along with the fact that she will not cut any corners with the bet by attempting to hide it with wigs or hats. She came up with her end of the challenge long after I came up with mine. I eventually came up with my stipulation, which states that should Hikari win a contest ribbon before the end of 2006, then I will wear dresses to all of my pokemon contests for the next four months.

Despite the daunting proposition in front of her, Hikari was not at all fazed with the possibility of her losing her long dark mane. To say I was impressed would be a gross understatement. She wouldn't even acknowledge the possibility that her hair would come off. Don't ever tell me that this girl isn't assured of herself. She shook me to the point that I had to reevaluate my entire plan and focus my attention on reforming my own confidence as well. I won't let Hikari get one step ahead of me in our rivalry. That's one thing I'm absolutely sure must not happen.

To be honest, Hikari's reaction has left me with more questions than answers as I left the Sevii Islands Rookie Challenge. To not let Hikari get one step ahead of me in our duel is one thing, but it may appear to the uneducated that I know all that there is to know about the pacing of this rivalry. But after Hikari left the room, I realized that quite frankly, I don't know what the hell I'm doing.

I thought that I would have to break her down on my interview with the press just to build her back up over the next few months, but something interesting occurred. She said in our conversation that she would stand up to me and not put up with anything negative that I had to say. It now looks like the next course of action for both of us is to say our peace to the media and give our rebuttals as well as the details of our stipulation. I am not sure exactly when Hikari will be asked to give a radio or television interview less than one day removed from the challenge, so it would behoove me to keep updated on whatever she may say in her rebuttal. Anything that she may say, I can use to find further details about her life story that can drive a more immeasurable wedge between the two of us as far as public philosophies are concerned.

Before Hikari left, she said that she had a slew of dresses in her closet that she already has in mind for me, and this is in her own words, "when I win a contest ribbon by the end of 2006." I am concerned because like I told DJ Mary and the professor, I haven't worn a dress since I was about five years old. That along with any pastel shade of color; especially the very 'girlish' pink is just a few things that cause me to raise a red flag. I came up with the newly modified stipulation after Hikari came up with hers. I thought it would not be fair under my original stipulation that stated that should I lose, I would have to wear a dress to only one contest in 2007.

Hikari has done more in just these last two days to me than I could have even fathomed when I first met the girl about four months ago. She has intimidated me on several occasions, and punched me leading me to the point where I got knocked out cold. She has used her words and her speech to confuse me to no end leaving me wandering aimlessly, and wondering what I have to do next.

Fortunately I know what to do now. I should just sleep on it. Sleep will never be my enemy again. I may have said to the girl that she says cute things and thought she was quite naive meeting her for the first time, but now, I'll reiterate it again; I don't know what the hell I'm doing, and I take full responsibility for this sudden change of events.

I should have prepared myself much better than I did.

Clueless, and I Don't Mean the Movie,

Nozomi

* * *

A/N: The first three chapters, which have amounted to over 24,000 words, were completely from the point of view of Nozomi. But the story will go into a new direction in the next chapter as we go inside the head of Hikari, for her first interview with the press. We get her unadulterated view on many of Nozomi's comments, and get a close look inside of the relationship between Hikari and her mother Ayako, and Hikari has a secret that she doesn't want her mother to find out about? Chapter four will start out in the point of view of Hikari, but it will end with Nozomi and the point of view will stay with Nozomi until at least chapter five.

As far as the stipulation that is laid out in the fanfiction, I have already decided who will win the bet. In other words, I will not take any requests from reviewers who say that they want Hikari to win and have Nozomi dress up for the next four months or have Nozomi win and have her shave Hikari bald. That doesn't mean however that you can't guess who will be the winner. You can do that via e-mail or put your guess in your review. I plan to add great humor to the stipulation, whoever may be victorious.

As always, make sure to leave a review of the chapter with your constructive criticism and feelings you have to this and other stories and check my author's page for updates on this and other stories.


	4. Hello Mother

Sharing 

A heated back and forth conversation has forced Nozomi to reevaluate her strategy for building the rivalry that she hopes can shake up the entire coordinator's scene. But this chapter has very little Nozomi. This is the chapter where we the reader will get inside Hikari's mind and pick her brain as she leaves the ER and when the media secures time with the coordinator from Twinleaf town. She will let the world know for the very first time what she thinks of Nozomi with her interview some days later.

NOTE: Unlike the previous three chapters, this one begins in Hikari's POV, but will end in Nozomi's POV. This starts right after Hikari leaves Nozomi's emergency room.

FAIR WARNING: In this chapter, I am also introducing surnames for the main characters, along with the inclusion of the USA dub names which will be used along with the Original Japanese names. After much thought, I came up with two suitable family names for both Hikari and Nozomi. I won't tell you them here, so you will just have to read, see and review with your thoughts. Remember, I gave you fair warning. Also this chapter (I believe) is quite long.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Pokemon, a creation of one Satoshi Tajiri, and is produced domestically (in the United States) by Pokemon USA/TAJ/The Pokemon Company, and internationally by Shogakukan and OLM. I personally own nothing and make nothing by writing this.

(Chapter 4- Hello Mother)

* * *

I wanted nothing more than to leave a lasting impression on Nozomi when I left the ER. I couldn't let her know that I was petrified at the thought of losing my hair, or she would in all likelihood gloat about it to the press. Once I am out of sight of Nozomi or anyone else that would try to ask me any questions before I was ready to give any answers, I swiftly walked to the nearest unoccupied ladies room and took a long look at myself in the mirror. 

I took a small handful of my hair and then brought it close to my cheek and began to breathe very hard. Concern was the expression that was plastered on my face as I fully realized what I did not that long ago. I got caught in the moment trying to look good and be brave in front of a brash, loud coordinator and my ego ended up getting the best of me.

I am shaking now as I look at my hair, representing womanhood to me and many others around the world, I consider this to be the crown on top of my head. Call it arrogance, but my mother always taught me to take pride in myself, with my hair being no exception. Of all the physical traits that I recieved from my mother, it has to rank up there at or near the top. It would be an understatement to say that my hair, among other things, meant a lot to me.

But consider what hair has meant to some people. It is the symbol that has separated men and women in these modern times. It was the strength of the biblical figure Samson before his lover Delilah cut it off. How you wore your hair was a sign of femininity and women worked hard to maintain their hair to attract potential suitors for life.

Women will spend many hours on end tending to their hair in one given day, especially in those special events in the lives of many women and young girls. On the night of prom, they wear their crowns proudly and display their look to their future graduating class, as on that one night, their beauty and grace takes center stage for all to see. Their dates and the many other young men at the prom venue give their approval with either a greeting of a hug or handshake, or a flattering wolf whistle.

On the wedding day of a blushing young bride, she would like absolutely nothing more than for this day, the day in which two become one, to be perfect. She needs nothing to go wrong. No botches, no late arrivals, no stains on the bridesmaid's dresses (much more the tragedy of a error on the bride's dress) and proper hairstyle is no exception to this desire to have perfection on this day. It's not asking for much, because for the most part, we only get, or expect to have, one wedding day. To have her parents there as they give their 'little girl' away and they cry both tears of joy and sadness knowing full well what this day entails.

I think about all of that and then I think about myself and my present situation. I am not going out to dinner, going to the senior prom, graduating or at my wedding. There was no guarantee that I would win, and I was being stubborn doing what I did. I attempted to barter with a trainer who is not only head of the class in coordinating with two ribbons, but is also well rounded, winning two Sinnoh gym battles. There would be no taking it back, however, because that would mean going back on my word, which is something you just don't do no matter what.

After all, I told Nozomi in the heat of the moment that it is best that someone stand by their word from the first breath of life to their place of repose. Was I fooling myself? I said everything in the heat of the moment, and was pissed off with her comments from the moment I entered the emergency room to the moment I left. Hell, I was pissed off from the time she made her Pokemon Talk interview to this very moment that I'm questioning my decision making and holding my hair close to my face.

I suddenly realized that my hair could very well be gone by the start of the New Year. I'm shaking even more attempting in vain to convince myself that the bathroom is just chilly. I know better than that. I know that I am scared that I could lose my hair and all it represents. I am scared to be made to look like a joke in front of Nozomi for not being able to get the job done and win contest ribbon number one. People will criticize and question, asking such riveting inquiries like 'Was your hair not that important to you,' or 'What will drive you to finally win that first contest ribbon if you can ever do it'.

Then something in my mind snapped and a wave of emotions came over me as I realized that I was faking my assertiveness with the redhead. Tears began to flow from my eyes as I knew that although I talked a great talk, I wasn't as assured in myself as I made Nozomi think I was. It dawned on me that there was a 50/50 chance that I would be a bald ten year old girl in 2007. Oh, the humor in it has me standing here with tears in my eyes.

My resolution for the New Year would not be to be nicer to people, to read more, or enter the Sinnoh Grand Festival. It would instead be to grow a thick skin. A thick skin designed to block out the stares, snickers and catcalls made by fellow coordinators, fans, detractors and hecklers who will see me at contests and laugh at the absurdity. I think about all of this and the tears flow like running faucets as I get a real good look at myself in the mirror and just broke down.

Crying is not the word to describe what I am doing. I am bawling like a baby because I've been challenged and am not confident at all that I can step up to the plate and hit a home run, much less a base hit. I had to defend myself and my pride and the result is me lamenting over my possibly soon to be gone hair. What the hell happened?

"How could I be so fucking stupid?" I scream out to no one in particular. I pound the marble countertop that surrounds the bathroom sink and curse myself for not disregarding the ignorance in some people and just running my own pace with my own rules. I couldn't be the better girl and just forget the idea of a challenge or a stipulation or a friendly wager or anything like that. I had to charge head on like a bull in a china shop, stubborn as ever and it may very well cost me.

Looking once more at the mirror, only this time I see a broken down excuse of a once confident coordinator. If Delilah cutting the hair off of Samson was the reason why he lost his awesome strength, then a modern day jezebel in Nozomi will more than likely cause me to lose all confidence in myself, if that hasn't already happened as I'm left in this bathroom contemplating the fact that I may lose that which I physically hold dear the most.

I close my eyes for a few seconds meditating to myself and trying to take deep breaths to calm my nerves and hopefully get myself together to leave the bathroom and just leave the challenge early, knowing full well what would happen once I would leave. Nozomi won't let me back out of this for very good reason, and will reinforce this by using the correct excuse of me coming up with the stipulation and having to live by it. This is just not what I planned on happening.

I say to myself, if I leave early, there are plenty of people out there who I can talk to, or get advice from, to help me. Here I am in this hospital bathroom, and I feel helpless! I don't know what to do, at all. But there are people out there who care about me. I could talk to my mother via a videophone, and just bear my soul without letting my anger for her be explicitly known. I could talk to Satoshi, who's been a trainer for over five years. If there were anyone who I was in immediate contact with that would know what it was like to face adversity from their own peers, it would be him.

The stories he has told me about his now good friend Shigeru Ookido are more resemblant of an elevator ride than a friendship due to the many ups and downs. Takeshi is a former gym leader. I'm sure there have been times where he has had to reevaluate his strategy for battling, especially when he has had to encounter a losing streak along the way. And I could also get some help from... him. Yeah. He'll know what to do.

"Are you all right?"

I am jolted by the sound of another voice that is not mine and turn to the side to find a female coordinator washing her hands, viewing me with a look of concern. I do not recognize her from the activities of the past six days, but give a halfhearted reply of 'yes' to her question. Turning back to the mirror to check my face, I see myself, but my brain plays a devious, evil trick on me and instead of seeing my long dark hair, I see a bald head; my own bald head resting squarely on top of my shoulders. It's a bad omen if there ever was one.

Those within a 50 foot radius could probably hear a loud piercing scream reverberate from the women's bathroom as shock became the dominant emotion which ran throughout my body. I came face to face with what my fate may be if I am not able to take the next step in coordinating and win this ribbon, and I became absolutely terrified. I fell to the floor of the bathroom and just continued to scream.

There was no message in the scream and I was not attempting to say anything. I screamed out of anger and disappointment in myself and my pride for leaving me in the position I am right now, a weak shell of myself being held and consoled by one of my peers; a female coordinator that I don't even know. She, whose name I don't even know because I didn't ask and she didn't tell, is asking me right now 'What's wrong? What happened? Please say something,' and I can't even bring myself to tell her why I am in this position.

I notice a crowd developing by the restroom entranceway and am mortified with the possibility that someone that I know knows me, or even heard of me could be there.

"Please tell me! What is your name? What's wrong?" That was the last question that I heard from the girl consoling me before I got up and hurried to one of the stalls and locking it, all within the space of less than ten seconds. The events that have happened to me in the last couple of days left me sickened and stricken with sadness. I looked down at the commode almost immediately after locking the door and proceeded to let out the bile infestation bubbling in my stomach. I threw up in the toilet, and in some respects felt better. I was no longer screaming, if that speaks for something, but a part of me was still sickened by what I just did, on top of the events of today and yesterday.

But it wasn't all Nozomi's fault, either. The sum of all of my parts was equivalent to a potent combination of every negative emotion and period of time I've ever experienced in my young life. Whether it was the fact that I lived in a home with a divorced mother who had purposefully driven a wedge between me and my father for the last four years, or this punk hoyden of a coordinator challenging me and admittedly getting the best of me at my worst, it all overflowed. My current environment was not a healthy one, and I saw no other means of combating it outside of leaving this restroom, this hospital, this exhibition and these islands and start to make heads and tails of the situation I am in currently.

I then realize in my dizzy haze that whether I like it or not, I am the one who is in control of this entire situation. The image of a strong-willed young lady that I placed in front of Nozomi's face should have been what I was feeling right now. I asked myself why wasn't I confident that I could win a ribbon, thereby sparing my hair and putting Nozomi in dresses for the next four months.  
Was it because I saw the reality of the situation at hand and got scared? Was it because I got jolted by the fact that a renegade coordinator actually challenged my abilities in public and private forums? Was it because I had sailed so smoothly along for the first four or five months and then once I hit this bump along the road I had no idea how to combat it?

I remember not that long ago that I would have not worried about something like this, because I had been to multiple contest finals and the only difference between me now and me with two contest ribbons is only two wins. The only difference between the finals wins and the semifinals wins and the quarterfinals wins of a contest is the hype leading up to the match and the baggage that comes with it being a finals match. It would be up to me to live up to the hype and come out of this a winner. And, quite frankly, throwing up in a hospital toilet or crying over something that hasn't even occurred will not make me a winner.

'I won't lose. I can't lose.' That is the mantra that I am continuously repeating in my mind. I know I am better than bitching, moping and complaining about what is essentially the sky falling. I open the door of the stall and see about 15 pairs of eyes fixated upon me, but I could have cared less about them.

Quite frankly, I don't give a damn what they thought about seeing this girl, myself, scream out her frustrations in what is essentially a public arena, take a minute in private, put all things in perspective and come out the better for it. It's good therapy, and it got a smile on my face for the first time since confronting Nozomi. I walk calmly out of the bathroom and out of the hospital not saying a word to anyone along the way. The feeling was mutual, as no one else reached out and said a word to me, either.

* * *

Walking to and outside of the automatic doors of the Sevii Islands hospital, I stop and look around. What I saw were people all over going about their normal routines. Their inner feelings and emotions may not be clear to the outside world, but for the most part they go out and live their lives, because that's life. I thought about that and carefully considered my situation. After about 30 seconds, I turned around and went to another wing of the hospital. 

I spoke to a receptionist at the wing about what I was going to do, and she was more than happy to oblige to my request. I continued onward to the hospital wing adjacent to the receptionist's desk. This wing was for pediatric cases, such as kids suffering with cancer, leukemia and other severe illnesses or injuries. I walk slowly through the hallway, taking quick but lasting glances in each room.

Young children are in beds resting while connected to machines that regulate and/or monitor their conditions. As I take this winding walk, I notice the kids seemingly getting sicker and sicker as I walk further and further down this hallway. One of the final rooms I come to has a child, who I presume to be a young girl of about eight or nine. She is working on a large puzzle and is listening to music through headphones of an iPod nano.

Two of her most prevailing features are her dark chocolate brown eyes and somewhat pale skin, showing blue veins all across the portion of her body not covered by her hospital gown. The most obvious feature, however is a pink and black skull cap stretched across her head. There appears to be no sign of any hair on either her head or just above her eyes. She is kept occupied, but I know that aside from the grave, this is the last place that she would want to be. A girl like her should never be worrying about whether she is going to die young due to any illness.

I knock on the side of the door to get her attention. She turns towards my direction and proceeds to pause whatever song she was listening to for now. "Hi. My names Hikari." I modestly introduce myself to her to start a conversation. She smiles upon the hearing of me introduce my name. She must not get company that often. "Hi there. My names Alexis." She tips her head to one side. "Hey, wait a minute. You're Dawn Kamiko! You've been in pokemon contests! I see you on TV all the time!" A high price of fame is apparently a level of image recognition that you never knew you had, and one you probably never wish you had, but that's neither here nor there. I'm just surprised that she knew my childhood nickname. Did I mention it in a interview previously? Oh well. It won't hurt to ask later, if she keeps doing it.

"Yes. I started about six months ago. Do you want to be a coordinator when you reach age?" "Oh, do I ever. You know, it couldn't have been that long ago I was sitting at home with my friends watching the Kanto and Hoenn Grand Festivals and I talked to them about how I wanted so badly to become a Grand Festival champion. I was laughing and joking like any normal kid... but one day, I had these terrible headaches that just would not stop."

"They were so painful and my mother tried everything to stop them, but nothing would work. About seven weeks ago, we saw a specialist after having MRI's. He put me in intensive care almost immediately and determined not that long afterwards that I had a brain tumor." I covered my mouth as she described in great detail the many process that Alexis's family went through to keep her alive. The specialist had told her mother that if she had not sent her in when she did, it might have been too late to save her as the cancer would have spread.

Seeing Alexis in her situation really put my piss poor demonstration into perspective. This girl, who is only about 1-2 years younger than I am fought through adversity over the past two months just to stay alive. Going through therapy in an attempt to not only reduce the impact that the tumor could have on her brain activity, but prevent it from coming back is not something I can even dare to imagine. Her body I am almost certain has been ravaged with pain through chemotherapy procedures that have left her too weak and tired at times to stand, eat or talk. Here I was feeling sorry for myself for possibly losing my hair, when this girl, a greater fighter than any boxer, pugilist or mixed martial artist in the world, is here with me.

They say seeing is believing. I see that she is not complaining or feeling sorry that the world has placed this burden on her. She is just living life much like the people outside of the hospital doorway. If it was not for the machines, the gown, the white room and the skull cap on top of her head covering her lack of hair, no one would even know that she was very sick. Looking at it from that point of view, someone in my situation who did what I did should have been embarrassed, and boy did I ever look like the most conceited brat ever. My mother, despite her haughty streak, raised me better than that.

For about the next thirty minutes, me and Alexis talked about just random kids stuff. I even helped her out with her puzzle which was 5,000 pieces. She was about halfway to her goal and I didn't mind helping her towards the finished product; a panorama of the largest crowd for a Grand Festival in the modern era of coordinating. This Grand Festival was from 1982 and took place at Celadon City.

It didn't matter the setting or the age difference, because my mother always taught me that the greatest gift you can ever give in your life is you. I gave Alexis my valuable time, not because I expected something in return, but because Alexis had been quite lonely over the last three days and needed someone to talk to and confide in. Her parents are really busy at their places of work, and at times find it hard to see her, but always make it priority number one to have numerous phone conversations with their girl on a daily basis.

She said that although she won't get her hopes up to high, she is confident that she will be playing with her friends again and becoming a coordinator sooner than you might think. When she asked if there were any hints, clues or strategies that I used in battle that would help her, I simply replied that she would have to go out and get as much experience and learn as much about pokemon as she could on her own. She was somewhat under whelmed by my response, but much like I had to learn a lot on my own these past five months or so, Alexis would have to do the same. There are just some things that a one on one conversation can not prepare you for and a pokemon journey is one of them.

This is a fact that Nozomi fails to wrap her mind around, and that is simply her blind judgment at work. I won't let her or her actions affect me any longer, because I now know what my priorities are. If I could go to the finals of two contests in my brief career, then what is stopping me from winning a ribbon right now if I wanted to? Once I leave the rookie challenge, which at this point I think will be an early leave, I know that the media will want to get my thoughts and it will be a good change for me and all the coordinating fans to shut this girl up, or at the very least, put her into an embarrassing situation like she did to me.

They say that a picture is worth a thousand words. I hope the press has hundreds of thousands of words to print for the first four months of the year, because I plan to collect them all whenever I need a good laugh or twenty. Alexis insisted that I talk more about my journey so far. She started the conversation, and perhaps that was a mistake. I tried in vain to avoid much of the talk of pokemon or my particular situation, because I didn't want to burden the girl with my troubles.

"You're the trainer that's been all the talk of the news for the last day or so. It was the trainer named, I believe her name is... Nozomi Kobashi who said those things about you yesterday. Just what did you do to make that girl so mad?" I breathe a sigh, because not even in the back of my mind can I remember anything I did in the two times me and Nozomi met to set her on this course she is in right now.

"To be honest, Alexis, nothing. I can't even think of one time I rubbed her the wrong way, yet she is saying all of these things about me. You shouldn't believe everything that the news reporters or the television journalist say. I know that some of them are probably very scathing towards Nozomi, but I haven't..."

"Scathing? Are you serious? News reporters are calling for her license to be revoked. There are people that want her to be suspended! There's outrage in the pokemon world, and the most coveted interview that journalists want is not the one from the GFCA brass after the rookie challenge, but the one where you give your rebuttal to Nozomi's interview. Because of the laws in place you obviously can't give that interview now, but don't be surprised if you get a bunch of cameras and microphones in your face when you become free game. What you say could have a big effect on her future coordinating career." I was surprised to hear all of this coming out of her mouth. She's a big time fan of coordinating.

"Are there any suggestions you have for what I might say in my interview?" I say this not really expecting anything of substance to come out of her mouth. I was simply looking for an unbiased opinion.

"Well... everyone is expecting you to be the bigger man, or young woman in your case. That's the safe option for you to just go onto TV or radio and tell everyone that you'll just ignore her idle threats, take your business to another region and forget about Nozomi, unless of course your paths cross again."

I hadn't even considered that I could just restart my journey in another region like Kanto, Johto or Hoenn, and allow Nozomi to be an afterthought in my career and my life post our stipulation.

Then my thoughts went to the nasty, despicable and reprehensible comments that she made and directed towards not just me but my mother and knew exactly what plan of action I had to take. She would pay for them if I had anything to say about it. Satoshi and Takeshi have been my traveling buddies for a while now, and learning the ropes from these multi-year veterans of the trade has done nothing but help me over the past five months or so.

That won't change as I will not start over in another region, essentially putting me back at square one as far as automatic qualifying for coordinating is concerned. I will not let Nozomi just move me to some unknown territory because I, in her mind only, don't want to stand up to her. If it's a rivalry that Nozomi wants, then it is a rivalry that Nozomi shall have.

"If I go on TV or radio and say that I will just leave Sinnoh, the same region where my mother became Grand Festival champion, I would pretty much be telling Nozomi, my mother and the media at large that I give up. That'd be like throwing in the towel or waving the white flag, and in this instance I can't see myself doing that and helping this situation in any way. What's to say she won't go back on the radio and talk about me being a coward because I duck and ran from her words? And besides, we had a talk recently, and although no one knows this but the two of us, we have a little wager to test my coordinating skills."

"A... wager?"

"Yes, a wager. She is not too fond of my coordinating skills or me for that matter. She thinks that if the stipulation we agreed upon doesn't inspire me to win a contest ribbon by the end of this year, then nothing will. The stipulation is... oh, will you promise me something, Alexis?"

"What's that, Dawn?" she asks more so wanting to know what me and Nozomi agreed to than to make a verbal contract.

"Tell nobody what I've told you until I have my media interview which I presume will be less than a week after the challenge ends. Is that clear?" I reach out my hand to seal the agreement. She is considering it as I speak.

"You've got a deal." And just like that we shook to the deal, and I put in my end of the bargain and proceeded to tell her all of the details of our wager. Afterwards, she was shocked to say the very least.

"How could you agree to something like that? You actually put your beautiful hair on the line just to prove a point? You could have just said no!"

"I'm flattered, Alexis, but at the time, I was in the moment, wanting to do what you just said, and throw Nozomi's words right back into her face. It wasn't until a little later that I fully realized what I did, and when I did, I got really scared. I saw an image of myself bald in my mind, and I hated it. Uh, no offense."

"None taken. The doctors are really working overtime to overview the activity in my brain and prevent the cancer from reforming. I keep pictures of myself with hair to remind me that if I keep a good attitude, follow doctor's orders, dream big and tell myself that I will get better, I know I will grow my hair back." The subject of pictures intrigued me to no end. "Can I see a picture of you with your hair?"

"No problem, Dawn." She reaches over to a side table and grabs a small frame. Indeed it is a picture of Alexis, and what I presume to be her folks and two brothers. She has dark brunette hair and really looks great. Seeing it makes me want to take present day Alexis and imagine her right here with me as her long hair is very much intact. "This is a really nice picture. So I presume that the adults in here are your parents?"

"Yes, and the boys are my older brothers. The one on the left is Shannon. He's 15 and studying to be a pokemon breeder with a concentration in fire type pokemon. The one on the right is Kirk, and he's 11. He's currently in his first year of his pokemon journey in the Orange islands. My parents own their own business in Mikan Island specializing in pokeopathic remedies and healing techniques." I don't say it, but I found it highly ironic that Alexis's parents are into pokemon health, yet Alexis is here in the hospital fighting for her life. Modern medicine certainly has a long way to go.

"You've got a great family. They all seem so tight nit."

"Absolutely. We all have each other's backs when times are rough like right now."

"And when your back is against the wall, you can either stand up and fight or go over to the corner and cower like a kitten. It all makes sense now. I don't care how long I have to have this war of words with Nozomi. If I win enough matches against her, she'll eventually shut her mouth."

Alexis looks at me when I made my last comment. I've made it more than clear that I would not sweep this problem under the rug and put it out of sight, and you know what they say about things that are out of sight. "It's good that you are committing yourself fully to winning the contest ribbon. You might have to resort to saying some things in your interview to catch Nozomi, the press and the fans off guard and make them wonder what your agenda is. You don't want to put all of your eggs in one basket, so you should have several backup plans in case one or another fails."

"Backup plans? Just where are you getting at?" To say I'm confused would not even tell half the story. Just what does this girl mean by 'backup plans'?

"I'm saying that it is to your benefit to schedule as many bookings for contests at you can for the month of November and December to get you back into the habit of simply going out and performing. Logging enough hours of practice will allow you the chance to lay out numerous strategies for victory, and that will lead you to your first ribbon. More experience will also ready you for future contests beyond that all important first win and better prepare you for the Sinnoh Grand Festival."

"The more contests you are in, the better chance you have of winning a ribbon, especially on an off week when there are not as many coordinators to do combat against. Your best bet to win a ribbon would probably be during the Thanksgiving week in late November when most coordinators will be home with their families. If that doesn't work, then mid to late December is another option, as most trainers and coordinators again will be home for the holidays. Just schedule to the point where you benefit, because I know you have what it takes to win the ribbon if you work not hard but smart."

Alexis made some great points. She's a very intelligent girl to have thought of that strategy in that short length of time. The fact is that I don't have to go for the jugular and win the ribbon right away. Nozomi gave me about ten weeks to work with, so it really would benefit me to pick my spot, and by correctly doing so, sparing my hair.

My job beforehand is to turn the hype machine up to full blast and play up the rivalry as much as possible to ensure that Nozomi feels as embarrassed as I was by her. We are all a slave to the media, and if I have a say so, Nozomi will find out what that means in the most unenviable way possible.

"There are some other things that you might want to consider doing when you go in for your interview with the press. My advice would be to light a fire in the bellies of the media and Nozomi and stretch the truth. Based on what you've told me, Nozomi was very liberal with her thoughts concerning you and told many outright lies. For what reasons you will probably never know, but that's her problem and you should let her deal with it. But if you are going to add some color to your comments, do it for the sole reason that you know that they will tick her off. So when the moment comes when she finds out that you have won your first ribbon, she could very well be floored by a feather at that very second."

Every new thing that comes out of Alexis's mouth seems to make more sense than the last thing did. Her observations on a brewing feud that she just gained knowledge of are astounding, and most noteworthy is the fact that all of this is coming from an eight year old brain cancer survivor. It is not so much the disease that makes me question her style of going about taking on Nozomi rather that this astute hypothesis cannot often be found in men or women three times Alexis's age.

"I have a question for you, Alexis. How did you come up with all of that strategy? I know you want to be a pokemon coordinator when you come of age, but your strategy had very little to do with that. So where does it all come from?" I strategically ask this in the hopes that there will either be an osmosis effect of her knowledge of staying cool through 'worst case scenario' situations like cancer that can rub off on me, or in her description, I can get tips to prepare me for my journey, however long it might end up.

"I may be eight years old, but I can read at a university or college level and my brothers have very high reading and comprehension levels as well. All of us kids were home schooled for much of our lives and know the importance of a great education. Using these advanced skills, I can apply them to any situation, because one of my strong points has always been critical thinking." Then I see a sly smile appear on her face. "Besides, it's quite clear that I am one to rise up under pressure. Not to be a braggadocio or anything, but a lesser individual would not be sitting here talking to you right now. My best advice to anyone else who'd like to think the way I do is to realize but accept the possibility of failure, but focus all of your efforts on success."

"What you want to do is eat, breathe, sleep and drink this contest ribbon 24/7. If you get all of your priorities straight, you will come out of this victorious. The thing to remember and is most important to your success is that pokemon coordinating is for the most part like a very complicated puzzle" she says this while pointing to the puzzle we spent about the last 45 minutes on together, in an attempt to complete. "Coordinating is like an exercise in critical thinking."

"Like every puzzle, you have your border pieces. These pieces of the puzzle are like the pokemon you can always trust to get you off the ground and flying. They make the greatest appeals and will get you the best scores and seeding for the battle portions of the contests. Appeals in contests, much like border pieces of a puzzle, will always connect to each other because they form a straight and even foundation towards the completed puzzle."

"Keep in mind that four of your pieces will always make up your corners of the puzzle. Those four pieces form your strategy for battling and appeals. If you don't have a strategy, you don't have much of a career plan, and are destined to fail. It would be like if you had a chicken with his head cut off trying to coordinate and train. The best coordinators will often build from their corners on the outside to the borders that surround the picture, and finally to the pieces on the inside. Those pieces on the inside represent you."

"The bottom line is you can have the most powerful arsenal of pokemon and the most surefire strategy, but if your heart is not into coordinating or training or any endeavor, you don't have a chance, and you won't have much of a picture. So you have to be a plan-oriented coordinator first and foremost, with pokemon that are more than capable of getting to the next level, and you have to want it or you won't get it. It will require a great amount of patience, but if you imitate a racing horse and put on blinders to block out distractions and negativity, you'll be certain to win and from it, get a great finished product as a reward for your effort."

When coming into this room of the hospital wing and finding this girl who had a great interest in coordinating, I thought it would be a great opportunity to become a mentor for a future trainer. I might give her some stories of coordinating, but most of all encourage her to kick cancer's ass and become the best you can be in whatever you want.

It's funny how people can affect your life when you least expect it. Yes Alexis did give me this immeasurable amount of advice and information on how to control the rivalry that Nozomi set into order over 24 hours ago. I did not expect it, but once it came I more than welcomed it with open arms.

"I think I understand where you are coming from with all of this. Obviously, you've been a fan of pokemon and coordinating for much of your life. Thank you for all your help. I'll be honest with you Alexis. I wasn't that confident in myself going into the wager I made not that long ago with Nozomi. The only thing I could think of was the possibility that I could lose my hair in 2007. It was very humbling, but I eventually got over it with some meditation and coaching from you."

"OK. You were honest with me, and I will be honest with you." Alexis seems somewhat hesitant in saying whatever she is about to say. "Nozomi was... very much out of line for the things she said. I told you earlier that the GFCA is considering revoking her license for her interview, but won't do anything at the moment because she's still at the rookie challenge. Now, it's entirely your decision, but you are the reason they will or won't decide to prematurely end her career."

"If you go out there and tell people without beating around the bush that you don't want Nozomi to be punished, then she won't be punished. You can still have a great interview and make her hot under the collar, but you want this rivalry to go on, right?"

I flash her a big smile and a wink. "I feel like there are some lessons of tact that that girl needs to learn, and I'd be more than happy to teach her. Sure I want it to go on. Though I was pigheaded, I was sport enough to accept her challenge, and I'm not backing down for nothing."

"If that's the case," Alexis replied, "then who am I to say that you're out of your mind? Just remember in whatever interviews or statements that you provide to the press that you say in no uncertain terms that you don't think Nozomi should get in any trouble for her comments. I have to tell you, if it were me in that situation, I don't believe..."

"Excuse me, young lady?" Alexis's words are halted by a voice that is not mine. It is coming from the doorway, where a young male orderly is standing with a clipboard in his right hand and a pen in his left. "I'm sorry to break up the fun here, but visiting hours for the children's wing are going to end in about ten minutes."

All I can say in my mind is just my luck. I could have learned so much more from her if I had some more time, but in this and many other instances, rules are rules, and they were meant to be followed.

"Could I have about two more minutes with her alone, please?" I flash the orderly the same smile that I gave to Alexis not that long ago. He acquiesces with my request once he sees that Alexis mouths the word 'please' along with me. Two seconds later, he was out of sight.

"Once again, thank you for your advice. It really did help me out."

"It was no problem. I just have one more thing to ask of you if I could."

"What's that?" I ask curiously.

"Could you at one point in your interview mention me? I think that would be great for me and my family and... much of the world to see?"

No matter the intellect or the ability to think on your feet quicker than a lion in the pride lands, the fact remains that Alexis is still a kid and always will be a true kid at heart. She sees her heroes in pokemon coordinators and has studied the past histories of all the greats, but is not flustered when one of the people she sees on TV or hears on the radio is sitting right next to her having a conversation about rivalries, but just like me, she is still a fan. I agree to the request to say her name on air and I give her a hug, wishing her the best in her recovery. I then proceed to go leave the room. Before I do so, something in my mind causes me to turn back around and ask my new friend a final question.

"Alexis? Before we got interrupted, you said something like 'if I were in your shoes' about if you were me and Nozomi said those mean things about you. What were you going to say?"

Alexis thinks back to that time period about a minute ago. "If Nozomi had said those things about me and I were in your position, I would have not even had a rivalry and would have called for her to be suspended from coordinating. I don't care what someone did or didn't do, those things she said were absolutely uncalled for. If I had to really give her a piece of my mind, well..." she stops her speech to make a fist with her right hand and punch into her left palm. "I think you get the idea, Dawn."

"You know, I did confront her not that long ago, and when I did, well..." I then proceeded to make a fist and punch it into my palm. "I guess great minds do think alike, eh?"

"Whatever," Alexis nonchalantly replies. "Don't forget to mention my name, and don't ever expose your hand, otherwise your rivalry will become too one sided in Nozomi's favor, as she'll know what to go after in the heat of battle." I nod in agreement with that statement and say my final goodbye to Alexis for now.

"Good bye, Dawn." I think it will only take a few seconds to find out the answer to this question, so I ask Alexis, "How do you know that my nickname is Dawn? I'm just curious."

Alexis tells me quite frankly "It was in the offical Sinnoh Region program for rookie pokemon coordinators" and she pulls out a copy. D'oh! How could I have forgotten filling out that form and having a picture taken a month or two prior to my journey?

"Sorry, I forgot that I even did that."

"No problem." Alexis says. "It has Nozomi's nickname here as well..."

"Uhh, no thanks. That's not important to me right now. Good bye again, Alexis." To which Alexis says good bye back one final time.

A few minutes later, I left the hospital once and for all. I went to a care place of a different sort right after the conversations with Nozomi and Alexis, respectively. I've neglected to give my pokemon much care after Nozomi's comments consumed me with anger to the point I forgot the people and things most important to me.

* * *

After having dinner, it was about six o'clock in the evening and I decided to make a stop at the Sevii Islands pokemon center before it closed. Less than thirty minutes upon my arrival, the Sevii Islands Nurse Joy calls me to the desk to tell me that all of my pokemon are OK. That much was expected, but what happened afterwards was not. 

"Oh by the way, Hikari, you have a phone call from someone." I did not expect it, but took the call from one of the videophone receivers. When I saw the face on the monitor, all of the air around me seemed to suck into my mouth in a prodigious gasp. It was my mother Ayako, and she had a very concerned look on her face. There was a big part of me that was hoping it was only due to the fact that she had not talked to her little girl (me) in a while, but I'm young, not naive.

Those that did not hear the comments that Nozomi directed towards me have most likely been living under a rock. As Alexis told me, the words have been played to the point of ad nauseam on TV and radio. If there is one person that is sick of them, it is me, and I am reminded of them as the moments play on monitors all over the pokemon center and the PA system that I assume is connected to a radio feed. Though I have soon tired of the interview played over and over in my head, Alexis said I would have to feed off this and develop enough of a personality to embarrass the red head as much as is necessary when I win.

My thoughts on my rival are halted by the comforting voice of mother dearest. "Hello? Hikari? Is everything alright over there with you?"

"Hello mother." I reply back in a somewhat indifferent tone. Not because of her, it's just that my mind is on other stuff. "Everything's fine, mom. Could you do me a favor?"

"Yes, dear. Anything for you."

"Please trust me when I say this, anything negative that you may hear about me in the media is simply not true, OK? There is a young girl that for whatever reason is trying to get under my skin and agitate me. In some respects, she already has, but she's just spreading lies about me. I just want you to know that I can handle this myself. I don't need you to come to the Sevii Islands or hold my hand for the rest of this journey, however long it may be. I've got everything under control right now"  
I see that my mother is starting to form tears in her eyes. "My baby has grown up so much these last six months. You know I'll always love you no matter what, right? I know you're not the type to let anyone's petty insults stop you from living your dream of becoming a world class coordinator, right Hikari?"

A single tear is forming in my eye when she says I've grown up. It's quite embarrassing, but I'm inclined to agree with her. I think I've done quite a bit of growing up today, as I went through several peaks and valleys of this Friday October 20th. My Friday the 13th must have come a week late because of all the negative crap I've had to deal with as far as Nozomi is concerned.

"Mom stop it, please. You're gonna make me cry. I swear everything will be alright with me. I'll get this mess fixed and have my good name cleared..." and I stopped when I realized that along with sullying my name, Nozomi defiled my mother's good name and reputation as well. "...and I'll be sure to get your name out of the mud as well, mom."

"I remember this girl from about four months ago." She says. It almost appeared to me that she dodged that last statement I made. "You battled her and lost in your first contest. I'm flabbergasted because she seemed like such a nice girl. She did provide the finishing touch to your contest outfit, and when she said those reprehensible things, I just couldn't believe it. You'd never do anything to make someone that angered at you, Hikari."

"That's just the thing, mom! I can't remember anything to make her act like this. And here's the strangest part; up until her interview on Thursday, we had seen each other for only the second time, or was it the third? Anyway, at that point, we had only seen each other, much less talked to each other only sparingly. I can't for the life of me remember a single moment in time where I got her so pissed off, that she railed..."

"Young lady!" Oops! In the heat of the conversation, I seemed to have overstepped the boundaries of appropriate conversation between mother and daughter and used profanity, albeit mildly. I take the time to humbly apologize for my profanity, and mom goes on a nearly one minute long tirade about how to conduct yourself as an upstanding young lady, be it in a private or public setting, and profanity is not a part of proper conduct. My language has to be used carefully from her on out, as I cannot afford any more strikes on mother's warning list. I get another, and our conversation will be longer than the ones I had with Nozomi and Alexis combined.

"Are we clear?" is how she ended her rant, and I said 'yes ma'am' to get that part of our conversation out of the way and move on to what I believe are things more important than acting ladylike and foul language.

"You shouldn't let the things she said about me hurt you in any way, dear." Mom says to me in a most compassionate tone. "You don't think I had to deal with people like her in my day? Goodness knows that the arguments and fights backstage at a contest or a Grand Festival would put daytime TV to shame. Look... what you need to do is go out there and forget about her, you know? Just... I really don't get this."

"Ever since I was coordinating, I never had someone call me out in the media. It was very taboo, and us trainers would be run out of contest halls if we even attempted to utter such slander. There were rivalries and what not, but this puts things in a new perspective. If there was ever a dispute, it would occur in private. This girl-- her name is Nozomi, right?"

"Yes it is."

"She's... different. She has a different kind of mettle than any coordinator I've seen back in my days. It takes some ability to win ribbons and badges on top of that, and I've always said that to be a great coordinator, you must first be a great trainer. I'm not condoning it in any way because Nozomi had no right to say the things she said, especially if you didn't provoke her at all."

"But in her interview, she said that when she was a young girl she idolized me, and when I see some of her work, I see some of me in her. There are... obvious differences between us like our appeals, but she did say the reason she trains a Glameow is because I did. And you wouldn't be bad if you've won two ribbons as quickly as she has. She certainly is one that looks like she could attract attention wherever she goes. It's hard to forget..."

"MOM! Why in the world are you trying to stand up for her?" For the record, I am extremely ticked off about my mother giving this girl she has never met personally all of this commendation. "Remember? She said that I didn't have what it took to be a coordinator like you. Why would you say all these good things about someone who said so many bad things about your only daughter?"

"Settle down, Hikari. If you recollect on what I said, I am not giving Nozomi a stamp of approval. By saying all of that, I'm trying to determine out loud what of her personality and battling could contribute to her saying what she said." With those words, I calm down, but I'm still mad that she won't admit to giving Nozomi the kind of praise she just doesn't deserve. "Admittedly, there were times where I've wanted to tell people in public exactly what I thought about them, but didn't because we just didn't do it."

"There wasn't a outlet for any of us to let out our frustrations because the old guard always believed that no one wanted to hear our thoughts. The battling and appeals would speak for us. She's got some guts risking everything just to let the world know what she thought about you and me. Can you believe it, Hikari? Do I have some fans or what? Nozomi told me that she loved me for providing her the platform to become a coordinator. I... I... gotta say, I'm quite flattered. I've had admirers, no doubt, but... that certainly takes the cake."

"Do you have any advice as to what I should do? I've heard it say that the press wants to know what I feel about Nozomi, and based on what I say, it will determine whether or not she remains a coordinator." I already know that no matter what my mother tells me, I will give an interview and will lobby to prevent her from being suspended. I just want to know what she would do in my shoes, and stop her from giving Nozomi this verbal stimulation that she doesn't deserve.

"I would just do the interview and move along, Hikari. I personally would just say my peace, but I wouldn't want to get into a full-fledged rivalry with someone if I didn't think it was necessary. I wouldn't want her suspended, because I would only judge her on her contest work, but the brass has always wanted coordinators to maintain a level of integrity that Nozomi just didn't show. You should probably just say that you have no problem with her and that if she won't apologize, then you'll start over elsewhere." Not bad, but I just don't want to go that route.

"Thanks for the advice, mom, but I don't think I would want to restart at this point, uncalled for comments or not. I just need to let her know that I'm not going to back down and won't let her uneducated remarks affect me. If she still wants to play hardball at that point, then I don't mind providing the Louisville slugger."

"Hikari, is that really necessary? Do you have to retaliate in that manner?" My mother was very shocked to find that I would not humble myself and let Nozomi's comments mimic water under the bridge. There are many reasons for this. One that she doesn't know but will eventually find out about is the stipulations we placed on one another.

"I can't let her get the last laugh and insult me and my family like that. I hope you understand that this is something I've got to do for my pride. Goodbye mom. I love you."

"Wait Hikari! You don't need to push the issue. You'll end up in..." I cut the feed off from the videophone and immediately left the pokemon center with my pokemon well rested and in hand. I regretted leaving my mother in the dark and prematurely ending our phone conversation; the first one we've had in about two weeks. But I doubt she would understand how personal Nozomi has made this entire situation to me. This girl has made me so angry to no end by just running her mouth; it has gotten to the point of ridiculousness. It's obvious she can't bring herself up to my level and settle this in an adult fashion, so she'll just have to watch me come down to her level and get just as nasty, petty, bitchy and despicable as she was.

I head back to my hotel room and pack my items as I ready myself to leave the rookie challenge early. There was nothing left here for me but mere pageantry and games without frontiers. The rookie challenge was something you only get to be a part of once in your lifetime, but much of my memorable experience will not concern meeting new coordinators, showing off appeals, or working on battle techniques with coordinators my age. It had more to do with someone who stood up and begged to be heard loud and clear by all of those within a radio's radius or a television's transmitter.

Quite frankly, knowing that I was even in the Sevii Islands, and that bitch was also here nearly sickened me once again. I wanted nothing more than to just go back to the people that cared about me, and set everything straight with everyone at once. The sooner I go back to Twinleaf town, the sooner I can let all of my thoughts and plans out in one forum, the less innuendo will be spread, and the better we will all be for it. I regret not calling him, but only for a moment. All I could think of now was getting out of here ASAP.

My newest and most important task would be to take the earliest form of transportation back to Twinleaf town and prepare a statement for the press. I'll leave the rest up to fate, imagination, and my wit.

* * *

October 24, 2006 

Right now, I am sitting in the lounge of the local pokemon center in Twinleaf town. It has been about five days since Nozomi made her now controversial comments about me, and I have not seen or talked to her since our conversation in her hospital bedroom. From the time I've spent leaving the rookie challenge early to right now at this moment, I've been working out what I will say in my prepared statement.

There are a few givens that will be covered and I knew I would cover from the onset. Number one is to inform the press that I don't want the redheaded coordinator to be suspended for what she said. I might not have liked it, and I don't really care for her either, but that leads us to point number two; our stipulation. Once the press knows of our deal, it is a guarantee that neither of us will be able to back out of it.

The media will play it up, bringing photographers, interviewers and other journalists and talking heads, and that should in theory draw interest of not just the diehard coordinating fans, but the casual demographic as well. As far as I'm concerned, the more people looking on as Nozomi experiences self-consciousness to the nth degree, the better.

Another point I will make is that I have not yet defeated this girl one on one. I am a coordinator first, and the bare bones of our rivalry are the fact that two good coordinators have drawn the ire of each other, and will settle their respective scores not in hand to hand combat, but in the numerous contest houses worldwide. I would still like to beat her to prove that I'm not as bad as she says.

The final point that I promised to make will be an acknowledgement of a young cancer survivor at the Sevii Islands hospital named Alexis. She more than deserves it giving me all of that assistance and recommendations for the statement I am about to give in one hours time at city hall before numerous media markets, but most importantly Nozomi. If I had it my way, she would have a front row seat for everything that I am about to say.

I decide after about four or five drafts of my statement worked on, proofread and evaluated over the last four days that it cannot be more ready than it is right now. With it complete, I make my way about ten blocks to Twinleaf town's city hall rear way entrance. This entrance plan made by me and Mayor Cameron W. Sellers's office well in advance over multiple telephone calls so that the media would not try to get any answers out of me before I would be ready.

Everyone would hear me at the same time with no exceptions. My mother tried about two or three times to get the answers out of me, but I would not have any of it, and would instead change the subject. Satoshi and Takeshi have been supporting me in the execution of this public statement since day one.

For the record, the two of them are just as peeved at what Nozomi said as I am. Funny how she not even once mentioned the two in our conversation or in her radio interview, because they did talk at length the three of them did the very first time I met the tuxedo terror. At that time they didn't have anything bad to say about her. Satoshi talked about how she said that while coordinating is a nice hobby, it would be best for him to focus on training and being the best he can at that.

He was stunned to find that she had not taken the same advice that was given to him about four months ago, and was also competing for badges in the Sinnoh gyms. 'A foolish hypocrite if I ever saw or heard one in my life,' Satoshi said to me as we had about the fourth or fifth conversation concerning Nozomi since returning early from the Sevii Islands. Both Satoshi and Takeshi have been accompanying me since I announced that I would deliver public address on Tuesday. They have been acting like makeshift bodyguards while I attempt to guard my thoughts for this all important testimony.

Combine the fact that over the last four days, I have not been that sociable with anyone outside of Satoshi and Takeshi with my wish to do my best not to let any part of my revenge speech slip out, and most of my conversations have been relatively quiet. Most people in this half a week have only wanted to know what I thought about what Nozomi had to say about me, and my answer in each and every exchange has been, 'You'll have to wait for my interview this Tuesday at 12:00pm on the steps of city hall,' or something to that extent.

If anything got any further than that, or if there were people that would not take 'no' for an answer, I just left their sight without saying a word. One or two media trucks have been camped outside of my home on multiple occasions, but the officers in Twinleaf town have done a great job in keeping these sleaze seekers at bay. I should thank them for that.

I hear a knock on the waiting room I am in along with Satoshi and Takeshi. It is a high-ranking assistant to the mayor of Twinleaf, and he says that everyone is ready for me to start. I grab a full unopened bottle of water from the snack cart they provided us and give the assistant a nod, saying that I was also ready to begin. I leave the waiting room first, and then Takeshi flanks me carrying with him a mango and a can of Mountain Dew.

Satoshi is the last one to leave the waiting room, and along with pikachu on his shoulders, he has a bottle of Pepsi and some Oreo cookies in a napkin. I have not eaten anything in about 18 hours. My thoughts and the speech have consumed everything in me and the desire for nourishment has not taken any precedent in my normal routine, for this day at least. This day is different.

My interview is now about ten minutes away from starting. A sort of peace has now overtaken me. No longer am I afraid of hurting the feelings of the girl that hurt my own. I simply say to myself 'an eye for an eye' to make myself feel better about it and fire me up for my comments. I may be fired up, but I am happy that I get to do this, and for the first time in a while a smile comes up on my face. The walk to the front doors of city hall seems to have lasted over five minutes, as my party along with the mayor's staff has had great difficulty getting past the government workers and other people in their respective activities.

The plan is to have the mayor take about three to five minutes to thank the media for their patience, introduce the television and radio audiences not familiar to Twinleaf town to this city and finally introduce me. The mayor's people were not given an idea of what I would say. Though they allowed me that freedom, I was told that there would be some minor ground rules. The number one rule was that I could not use any profanity in my speech. Should I break this rule, my speech would prematurely end at the hands of the mayor, who will stand in the production truck and give the signal to kill the audio at any moment.

Another rule is that they want me to try to keep the speech below fifteen minutes in length so that a question and answer period can be done afterwards, which gives me a total of about 30-45 minutes of media time. Although I am at peace, there are butterflies aplenty in my stomach. I welcome whatever criticism comes my way from what I say, and as the mayor and his entourage approach the podium, I flash a smile in the direction of Takeshi and Satoshi. My attention is turned back to the direction of Mayor Sellers as the emcee introduces him to the media.

Mayor Sellers deliberately walks to the podium, and it begins. "On behalf of the great people of Twinleaf town, I, the mayor of would like to wish our company here and our viewers and listeners nationwide and worldwide a good afternoon. We, much like everyone here were absolutely disgusted with the hateful and uncalled for comments made by one Nozomi Kobashi approximately five days ago. No matter what happens, we the representatives of Twinleaf town stand by our young trainer 100 percent." "We'd like to take this time to thank the many members of the media for respectfully honoring tradition by not attempting to interview Hikari during last week's rookie challenge. We would also like to give kudos to the majority of media outlets for giving Hikari her space and allowing her to get all of her thoughts out on her time. Very few people can understand what she has been going through since last Thursday, and I for one am anticipating just what our hometown girl has to say."

Mayor Sellers continues, "For those that are unaware, the young lady I am about to call up to the podium is Hikari Kamiko. She is ten years old and a first year coordinator. Her mother, Ayako is a now retired hall of fame coordinator. In her day she reached the top of the coordinating ladder and became the Grand Festival champion of the Sinnoh region. She believed in great competition, dignity, restraint, grace, a winning strategy, and the will to hang on and fight for all that she believed in. Prior to her great success as a coordinator, she was a top trainer in regions such as Johto, Hoenn and her home region of Sinnoh, winning numerous exhibition tournaments and finishing in numerous tournament and conference semifinals and finals."

"She brought that discipline in battling and coordinating to life when she had Hikari, and she will continue in what many hope to be a winning tradition for the Kamiko family. Ladies and gentlemen, without further adieu, I present to you one and all Twinleaf town's own Hikari Kamiko!" Mayor Sellers motions with his right arm for me to come to the podium and begin my speech. There is a very small throng of supporters scattered within the media who applaud the introduction of me to the rostrum. I take this opportunity to think of all the people who may be watching what will happen in just a few seconds.

I think about my loving and caring mother, who did not come with me to city hall as she doesn't understand why I am even having this 'charade'. Her words, not mine. Alexis and the many kids at the Sevii Islands hospital along with many of the attendants are probably watching or hearing this. Alexis most likely gathered anyone that could into a lounge room nearby either a television or radio to hear it and brag about the mention that I will soon give to her. I think it's a great probability that both DJ Mary and Professor Samuel Oak are also intrigued by this display and would like to know what I thought about it.

Being home for the last two days, I saw their reactions to Nozomi's comments, and their reactions were like everyone else; pure shock and awe. My final thought goes towards Nozomi. Like I said, I wished that she could have a front row seat to witness this forum personally. If she were here, the remarks I have may have caused her to want to strangle me before I was finished. That's my job as far as I'm concerned; to fire up the fiery red head and make her fall from arrogance mountain that much higher. I don't know how she'll see or hear my comments, but the sooner the better.

I shake Mayor Sellers's hand, for the photographers and cameramen to get a good pose, and then proceed to place my notes on the podium and test the singular microphone in front of me. I adjust it to fit my height and begin my speech.

"I thank you Mayor Sellers, the city fathers of Twinleaf town and all of the respective media outlets for this time. I realize that this has been a very stressful time, as I know that there are many people out there on the edge of their seats as they await my comments to the interview of the coordinator Nozomi Kobashi at the Annual Sevii Islands Rookie Challenge. I will say to those people that there is absolutely nobody here or anywhere else for that matter that is more anxious to let her thoughts be known to the world than myself."

"Admittedly the last five days have been quite possibly the most stressful days of my young life. To keep the feelings that have been building inside of me a secret has been an arduous task to say the least. Fortunately, I shall no longer be burdened by the statements of the grossly uneducated as they shall know how I feel along with everyone else." I take a swig of water and continue to read.

"I have been a coordinator since the month of May in the year 2006. I am young and inexperienced right now, but I feel that with the right combination of hard work, the business of pokemon coordinating will not become a difficult endeavor. I come from a very loving household and town that has shown me nothing but the best of support as I began my journey some five months ago. When I began, I had the same dreams and aspirations as any other coordinator to be the absolute best that the pokemon world had to offer. I never bargained that my dreams would be put into question and made the focus of everyone's attention at the hands of a rogue and renegade coordinator in Ms. Kobashi."

"She has... brought out the worst in me, and she knows exactly what I am talking about when I say she has brought out the worst. It has never been my intention to step on anyone's toes as I grew and progressed in this trade. She claims that my attempts to be the best are an idle effort to grasp at straws and prove to myself that I'm no fluke. Well, Nozomi, like I told you at the time we confronted each other not that long after you said what you said, I have every intention on proving you wrong. You were very much out of line for opening you mouth and wanting to draw unnecessary attention to yourself. Quite frankly, I don't believe that you even needed the spotlight, because many will argue that your performance since beginning your journey speaks for itself."

"I hope you realize how much your words truly did hurt me, Nozomi. I've been home for the last three days or so, but I've gotten about 40 or 50 different phone calls from various relatives all over that are concerned, because they think that I actually rubbed this girl the wrong way. Some of my closest relatives were yelling at me over the phone wondering what I did wrong. I could not tell them enough times that she was shooting from the hip with these comments. I can't pull anything from my memory bank that would tell me that she would have a rational reason for saying the things she said."

"Nozomi. You questioned my determination and might to stand tall in contests and not waiver. Right now, however, I question your courage for not coming to me and telling me face to face these things. You felt it necessary to hide behind the protective veil of the media to let everyone know what you thought about me. Your actions resemble in the minds of many a scarlet letter of cowardice, and a mark of extreme insecurity. I may never know why you took it upon yourself to embarrass me on radio and television, but at this point, as cynical as it might sound, I am beyond the point of caring. To say the very least, you my friend have crossed the line."

"I heard your entire interview, and I want to make these points crystal clear. I feel bad about the fact that you've lost a father, but I am not going to feel sorry for you because you don't have a father in your life. Why do I not feel sorry for you? Well, you're not the only one who has lost a father. He may not be dead, but he might as well be, as I haven't seen or talked to him in over four years. I also feel bad that you lost your best friend at that young of an age. I can only assume that it had to be a traumatic experience for you, and I would never wish the death of a young boy or girl on anyone's family."

"Speaking of family, you drove my family name through the mud. I can't help but feel bad for you when I think about you attacking my family, more specifically my mother, for whatever sick cause you're representing. I ask rhetorically, do you have any shame or decency at all? You're sharing very public and sordid details about yourself and have no problem doing it so long as you get what you want. You say that you loved my mother and she is the one main reason why you are coordinating right now. Like I told you when we talked the day after our interview, my mother is the reason I am a coordinator as well. There is not that much difference between us in that aspect. I just wish that you could have been a lot more personable with your feelings instead of pulling out a surprise every fifteen seconds for the sake of pure shock value." I take a moment and catch my breath. There is still major business left to take care of before I leave this podium.

"Despite my qualms, and admittedly there are many that I have with this coordinator, I would like to make this one thing abundantly clear to any and all pokemon coordinator's commissions in Sinnoh or any other region. Despite her uncalled for comments, I do not wish to have Nozomi Kobashi's license revoked or suspended by any of the many governing bodies. Despite her lack of discreetness, there is no denying her great talent as a coordinator. From one coordinator to another, I would hate to see that talent go to waste. Again, I do not wish to have her suspended, as I believe that nobody can learn and grow from this punishment. If we as a family are willing to accept all members, we cannot and should not sweep our problems under the rug. We must confront them and attempt to make the best of an otherwise difficult affair."

"One thing that you made very clear to me in our conversation is the fact that you do not believe that as long as I am coordinating, nobody will take me or my work seriously. Like I said at the start of this statement, I am always trying to get better. Not necessarily dwelling on the past, but learning from my prior mistakes and moving forward. I will grant you these two things, Nozomi. Number one, you've always said that I have the potential to be a great coordinator, but that the responsibility of taking my training to the next level rests solely on my shoulders. And number two is that you are consistent in whatever you say and do. You believe in and enjoy the challenges of everyday life. This love for challenges I can only hypothesize is the reason that you made this particular one between the two of us."

"While we confronted each other this past Friday, Nozomi laid out a challenge for me. For those of you who have followed my career up until this point, you know that I have not yet won a contest ribbon. Nozomi does not believe that I can win one by the end of this year, so we made this deal. We've agreed to disagree for the most part, but the terms of our stipulation are as follows; should I succeed in my quest to win my first ribbon, Nozomi has agreed to wear various dresses of my choosing for the first four months of the year. If I am not able to win a ribbon by the end of this calendar year, then I have agreed to have my head shaved." This revelation causes loud murmurs from the attendees and the flashbulbs from the cameras are popping at greater frequency than normal. I turn my eyes away from the lights for a moment to prevent any temporary blindness.

"Through our agreement, I have also decided that I will not cover up my lack of hair over the duration of our stipulation with any wigs or hats. Though it is a very daunting stipulation, I am confident, happy and ready to work on this new endeavor with my rival Nozomi." I halt my speech for a moment to confirm in my mind that that is what I am faced with. Like her or not, she is my new rival. "One thing that the people in charge of pokemon contests have valued more than other things is competition."

I've only battled this girl one time, and I am a coordinator first. I would like another chance to battle her once more and come out the victor. That can't happen if Nozomi is suspended. On the subject of our stipulation, I have been telling myself six simple yet effective words to guide me through this ordeal; they are 'I won't lose. I can't lose'. Along with getting my mindset in the proper order, I have also retuned my strategy for victory. I did this with a little help, and this acknowledgement goes out to a young girl at the Sevii Islands Children's Hospital named Alexis O'Connor. Alexis is a cancer survivor. Alexis, if you're listening, thank you for all of your help and I hope everything's going well, because when you get of age to become a coordinator, I'd love to battle you one on one."

"In closing, I'd like to take this opportunity once again to thank Twinleaf town for providing me with this time, and the many media outlets here for their patience. Now, I understand that there is reserved time for a question and answer period, and Mayor Sellers will tell you more about that. So with that in mind, I yield the floor back to his honor." I step from the podium with the feeling of accomplishment plastered on my face. A light but visible smile has returned to my visage as I momentarily step to the side of the pulpit.

"We will now open the floor for questions for Hikari Kamiko to answer. Please keep in mind, however that there will be some rules in place. First and foremost, Hikari is not liable to answer any question that she does not want to answer. Second rule; if you want to ask a question, remember that you can only ask one question at a time. To ask a question, calmly form lines at these microphones that we've placed at the bottom of the city hall steps. Are there any questions?" After three seconds, "If there are no questions, I give the floor back to Hikari." Mayor Sellers invites me back to the podium like he was a praying mantis and I was his lunch.

I start saying what else, but "Let's begin". If they're gonna take me through hell, they are coming with me.

"Hikari," a reporter begins. "Would you be willing to sign a written contract for this stipulation?"

"I am, but Nozomi is another story. Signing a written contract gonna depend entirely on Nozomi's willingness to sign a contract, but she told me when we talked that she wasn't gonna back down if I wasn't gonna back down, and I made the same promise to her. But as far as I'm concerned, and I will only speak for me, I am fine with putting that stipulation to paper."

"Hikari, is it true that you violently confronted Nozomi with your frustrations the day after her interview?" Quite frankly, that's none of their business. If she had said the same things about you and your family members, what would be your gut reaction?

"Next question, please," I say to the reporter. I may be disappointing her, but if word did get out that I did punch her out and caused her head injuries and Nozomi was willing to press charges, I could face time in a juvenile hall or pay some restitution. That's something I didn't want to risk, especially with all of the media coverage on me right now.

"What hurts you the most after everything that Nozomi said?"

This is an easy one. "Well, like I said, I don't think I would have been as hurt if she said these things to me face to face. She used the media as a crutch for her apparent vendetta against me, and it just was not necessary."

"When did you plan with the Mayor this speech of yours?"

I've got no problem asking this one. "I had left the Rookie Challenge early, and once I came back to Twinleaf, I went to the mayor's office requesting this time. Once he found out who I was, he was more than willing to give me all the time that I needed. When I told him that day I wouldn't need much time, we traded dates in which I could greet with you here today until we decided on this one. Next?"

"Do you believe that you and Nozomi should go through counseling to alleviate the pressure in your relationship?"

What the hell kind of question was that? "Why? Do we look like a married couple to you? Next question."

"You've criticized Nozomi for going to the media to let her feelings be known. So why did you agree to do an interview if you knew that that action would be seen as hypocritical?"

This is a good question. This is one I have to think about, but I do give an answer. "Well, there are two reasons. One is that we wanted to advertise our stipulation to prevent either party from backing out of the deal. Nozomi was the one who came up with the idea of me going to the media and saying my peace because she wanted to know what I thought and wanted to push the stipulation. And I suppose the other reason was because I wanted nothing more than to prove her wrong and make her look like a fool for even pulling such a publicity stunt."

"Quite frankly, I don't find it hypocritical to do an interview, because I was blindsided by the comments that Nozomi made. The first and second times that we met, she was very nice to me, but these comments were made the day after the second time that we met, so I have no idea what I did to make her say what she said. I don't have a lease on her mouth. She can say whatever she wants to me and I hate to sound like a broken record, but I have a problem with her not saying these things directly to me."

"At the end of your statement, you called Nozomi your rival. My question is, how far are you willing to go with this rivalry?"

"As far as Nozomi is willing to go is as far as I'm willing to go, plus one more hour."

"Why has your mother not accompanied you to this gathering today?"

I'm somewhat annoyed by this, but I don't dismiss it entirely. "You're gonna have to ask her. Next question."

"Would you have preferred your mother to be here with you today?"

"Yes, but either way it doesn't matter in the long run. Again, you'll have to speak to my mother, because I refuse to speak for her. All I'll say is that she doesn't agree with some of the things I'm doing, and until the conclusion of the interview, she did not know about the fact that I made a wager with Nozomi. Again, if you want her opinion, ask her."

"Hikari, what does your mother think about Noz..."

I have to stop this nonsense now. I hold up my hand and interrupt his forthcoming question. "I'm sorry, but can we... I don't mean to be rude sir, but can we please turn away from the subject of my mother? I thought I made it very clear that I am not at liberty to answer any questions that involve my mother. I'm not doing that, because right now, were not on that good speaking terms due to the fact that she is upset with me, as I haven't told her anything I've told you here in advance. I don't want to speak for her, because she can do that. I don't know if you will get the answers you want, but it doesn't hurt to ask. Now for future reference, I will not answer any questions that concern my mom. Any other suitable questions you have, I will attempt to answer them to the best of my ability. Thank you."

"Hikari. How did you and Nozomi come up with the stipulations?"

"We both came up with our own losing stipulations. That is, I came up with having my head shaved should I lose and Nozomi came up with wearing dresses for the first four months of 2007 should she lose." I think to wrap up my answer there, but continue for the sake of not having to answer the obvious later. "And for those wondering, Nozomi came up with her stipulation first then I came up with my own."

"You mentioned a cancer survivor named Alexis in your speech. You said that she helped you out a lot. Would you care to specify in what way or ways she as assisted you?" Again, that's none of their business.

"Next question."

"Would you care to release any details whatsoever about this girl?" Uhh... hell no.

"Next question."

"Would you care to respond to the rumors of you having a nervous breakdown in a women's restroom at the Sevii Islands hospital during the rookie challenge?" It sounds like someone is trying to sabotage me, because this was the same reporter that asked about me punching Nozomi. Apparently, she got multiple sources to confirm my misdoings on the boardwalk and my breakdown later that day. No matter though. Whether she is part of a credible and noteworthy source or a sleazy tabloid, she won't get any answers from the ultimate source.

"Next question."

This exercise continues for about another 20 minutes until it reaches the point of near laugh ability. The questions become more absurd and the reporters become more frustrated with my lack of cooperation. They should have come up with better questions. Mayor Sellers returns to the podium to wrap up the question and answer segment and gives a final thank you to the reporters and to those watching at home.

* * *

I walk past the large throng of media and fans that continue to persist and try to dig up more dirt on me than I would ever allow. Some people show their support for me and thank me for standing up against the 'red devil' as they call her. I can only think to myself how creative and appropriate it is. Some of them ask me to sign merchandise and autograph books, which I do because I have no problem with it. I also want to get home as soon as I can to see my mother and get her thoughts on what I had to say. 

The walk from city hall to my home would normally be about 8-10 minutes. I had a feeling that it would be a bit longer due to the crowd, but did not expect it to be 25 minutes from city hall to home. I lost sight my traveling companions while on the course to home. Turns out they were able to use a shortcut and barricade the front door before anyone could bulrush it. I hurried to the door to avoid falling deeper and deeper within the media cesspool and to try and make my way to my mother's house.

How she would greet me, I am not sure. I've not been the model daughter these past few days, as I've attempted to avoid all conversation with my mother, as she only wants to talk about what I was going to say in my speech. Now that my speech is done and behind me, I can only guess that it is now time to reconcile and try to explain my actions over the last week or so.

I open the door and Satoshi and Takeshi follow me in after I go in first. My mother is on the couch and looks over to me somberly. She doesn't even say a word to me, but motions to me to come over to the couch and sit with her. I do so and she then speaks to Satoshi and Takeshi. "Pardon me boys, but if you don't mind, I'd like to speak with my daughter alone."

They oblige with my mother and after about 15 seconds, they leave the front door and are bombarded by the media before even leaving the front porch. I don't know what they will be asked, but I could care less. My entire focus has now turned to explaining to my mother what I'm doing and why. The only problem is that I have no idea how to break the ice and open up to her on all that I have done and will do.

My mother is finding it hard to even look at me, but after a minute or two finally gets the ball rolling in what I presume will be a long conversation.

"Hikari" she says softly. "What... why in the world would you fall into her trap? What would cause you to even agree to something like that? This wasn't necessary, Hikari and I'm at a loss trying to figure out in my why you'd risk shaving your head. For what? To prove that you're a great coordinator? You don't need to do that with your words. You do that in contest houses and battlefields region wide. Why couldn't you just be the bigger woman and ignore her nonsense? I swear, every time I've looked at you since you started your journey, you remind me more and more of... you know what? That's not important right now."

I angrily retort to my mother. "I'm nothing at all like him and you know it." I do that to feed her huge ego. I knew exactly who she was talking about, and only gave her the response that I did so I could save myself from her wrath. If she found out that I had secretly been speaking to him for as many years as I have been, she would kill me in blind rage.

"Are you sure? You've given me nothing short of the cold shoulder the last four days of this ordeal. And you are one of the most stubborn people that I've ever met or known in my life. Is there something else that you're trying to hide from me like he did? Something you don't want me to know about? You might as well let me know everything going on inside your head, because you are not leaving this couch until I hear everything." I made the mistake of turning my head away from her glaze, and to emphasize her point, she grabbed my chin and forcibly turned it back towards her direction.

"Do you understand me, young lady?" she demands.

I look down for a moment and then answer her with the indication of a tear in my right eye "yes ma'am".

My mother's face starts to fall. "I'm sorry if I was too rough, but you gotta understand, dear. I'm very, very disappointed in you right now. Not just for the fact that you wouldn't tell me what you were going to say in confidence, but you broke that thing we promised each other after... well, you know. You remember what we agreed to so many years ago, Hikari?"

I nod my head, because this is something she will not let me forget for the life of me. "We'd always tell each other what is on our mind and be open and honest with each other. That we'd always stick together and... be there for each other when one is in need."

"That's right. Now right now, dear, I am in need. You need to tell me why you've done the things you've done, and you need to tell me right here and now. No more ducking and covering and no more beating around the bush. Just tell me why you've chosen this path of a rivalry with Nozomi."

I reply to her fair request with a simple 'yes'. I asked her to listen to me fully and with an open mind, but most of all to not interrupt me until I told her I was finished. I told her about the thoughts that permeated in my mind when Nozomi said what she said. I wanted nothing more than to defend myself and my family name. I talked about the fact that my pride had gotten the best of me in a situation where rational thought was not something I was thinking about.

The thought to shave my head was something that came out of the blue, because I felt the stipulation initially in place was not something that would have inspired me to go out and give it my best. I continue on, saying that I confidently laid out the stipulation to her, and would not even consider the possibility that I might lose. After leaving her hospital bed, reality began to hit me like a ton of bricks as I realized that I could lose, and be the laughing stock of pokemon coordinating.

I told her about how the mere thought of losing my hair made me sick, along with other things. I then proceeded into the inspirational part of my speech, as I talked about how I picked myself up, knowing that I was in control and headed out of the hospital. There was no use moping and bitching about this if it hasn't happened yet, though I didn't say it to mom in those exact terms. I then decided to visit the wing for pediatric cases and saw Alexis, the girl I mentioned in her speech.

I talked about how we helped each other in our own special way. I told her that I am not sure what caused me to visit the young girl, but that I was glad I did. The reason for the speech was that I wanted Nozomi to know what she has done to me by opening Pandora's box and complicating my relationship with my whole family, more so my mother. I didn't want her suspended, because I want to beat her on the battlefield like mom said, and that is the reason for the rivalry. I was done and I told her that I was done. To her credit, she did not interrupt me once.

I got a response that I did not expect after I bared my soul. She proceeded to give me a big hug and cry out loud. I returned the gesture with equal force and we proceeded to cry in each other's arms for a time I could not tell you if my life depended on it. What I knew I could depend on now and for however long this rivalry with Nozomi would last is that I had the full support of my mother. In the course of our embrace, she whispered to me a soft 'thank you,' and I knew that our reconciliation was complete. I need not worry about worrying my mother any further. After a while, we finally let go of each other.

Mom finishes our conversation. "Thank you, dear, for being honest with me about all of this. I know it had to be hard to relive all of that."

"It was mom, but I'm past the anxiety. It's... s'no problem, mom." My attempt to inject humor in this emotional time did not fall flat like I thought it would, and I finally got something out of my mother that I'd been praying to see for several days; a smile. I got that, along with a hearty laugh. Oh yeah, things would be all right for now at least. Once I leave and continue on my journey, it will be up to me to keep this momentum at a high rate.

"I just have one more question, Hikari. You'll have to answer a lot of questions with all of these interviews, news reports, articles, journalists, talking heads and the like. Are you really ready to handle it all, dear?"

I give her a caring smile and simply said "Like I said, mom; s'no problem. I'll be fine. I promise you." I seal this verbal contract with a hug. I think once more about Nozomi wondering if she has ever shared the kind of bond that I have with my mother right now. Our family unit may not be 'perfect', but the two of us are there for each other for better or for worse. I turn my thoughts away from Nozomi. It's for the best after all. Never again will I allow her or anyone else's words to poison me or my thoughts and actions. From now on it's just positive thinking and activity as I work to make myself into the coordinator I wanted to be so many months back.

* * *

October 25, 2006 

If anyone is still interested,

Fortunately, I'm no longer wandering aimlessly like a kid at a birthday party playing pin the tail on the donkey. Yesterday, I was able to see and hear Hikari's comments to my tirade, and it put my plan back into a realistic perspective. There was a point in my plan where I forgot what the main objective was. I had one ultimate goal heading into this project, and that was to elevate Hikari and myself to the top of the pokemon coordinating tower, but Hikari's welfare was first and foremost in my plans. Hikari's actions as of late have shown herself in my eyes to be a legitimate threat to win any contest ribbon or Grand Festival in any region out there. If Hikari is willing to step up her game, then I must do the same.

My only assumption as to why I thought I was losing control of the rivalry that I created was due to the hallucinations that came from after having a concussion. Being faced with unusual territory and confronted with the rapidly matured fruits of my labor was enough to make me more than just uncomfortable staring into the eyes of Hikari. I might have referred to her as 'daijobu girl' on more than one occasion in the past, but in today's conversation, that would only be an empty and hollow stereotype at best.

To right myself in the correct direction, I remembered that the initial goal was to make Hikari an intimidating force. My plans were from the very beginning centered around making Hikari a player in pokemon coordinating. My expectation was that this would take a while to develop, but that turned out to not be the case. I was shocked to the point that in my last entry I claimed not to know heads or tails of this rivalry. I spoke, or in this case wrote too soon. I can't control how Hikari thinks or acts from this point forward, but I believe that that fact will make this thing more fun than if I had been pulling all the strings.

Watching her at that podium, I was captivated by her control of the power-hungry media. She laid down the line between those questions which would be accepted as legitimate knowledge that credible reporters looked for to build the true story, as opposed to glorified circus promoters who shouted out their shock headlines via a figurative megaphone based on the garbage that they sought to exploit from people like Hikari. She is the type of person who commands respect, and her refusal to answer questions that had nothing to do with our current rivalry and more to do with her mother proved that. I love that attitude in someone; sifting through all of the B.S. and letting your point be made. This is what makes someone a compelling figure in the media, when you can stand your guard and not becoming a victim of their games.

By virtue of Hikari going out there and being herself without much coaching from me, it also brings a great level of legitimacy to our elongated quarrel. Although I have to work harder to keep up to date with the results of contests, I no longer need to occupy myself with Hikari's end of the rivalry. She no longer needs my coaching, and I'm seriously doubting that she ever did need it. Now it is simply a matter of waiting and wondering. Will any of this progress correlate into victories in contests houses, Grand Festivals or even gym battles and league championships should she ever choose that route. It's just a matter of time before things really start to get interesting, and it all starts with our friendly wager. I'm more concerned than ever that I will lose. I not shaking in my boots at the prospect of wearing dresses at contest until the end of April 2007 just yet, but that doesn't mean that if I go down, I'll go down easily if at all.

I fought tooth and nail with my mother for a few good years over this very issue. Unfortunately, I don't think Hikari will bend like mom did. After all, I put her (Hikari) through hell with my comments. A few months as a debutante should in her mind be enough to humble me, but she doesn't know my mind.

At times, I don't even know where my mind is, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

Back in the high life again,  
Nozomi

* * *

November 19, 2006 

It's Thanksgiving week, and what would normally be a very hustling and bustling environment more closely resembles a cemetery as I am currently in the pokemon center in Canalave city. Another recharging of the batteries of me and my pokemon team was needed. Speaking of which, my team has expanded once again to include a very feisty female Flareon as of three weeks ago, bringing my squad up to five. The last month or so has been busy to say the least and the pokemon center silence is a welcome break from the norm. I've gotten numerous requests to do radio and television interviews and to give my rebuttal to Hikari's speech back in late October. I haven't turned down a single request, meaning that I have done about 50 or so different conversations with the media since after Hikari confronted me in the emergency room.

Hikari and I also took part in an official right of passage in our rivalry. We signed the document that made our stipulations legally binding. Both of us signed the contract about two and one half weeks ago, and I couldn't have been more happier than to see a large crowd of people there to see it all. In attendance was the type of crowd that would frequent a weigh in for a boxing match, or other form of hand-to-hand combat. Well, if they came to see a fight, they were surely disappointed, because the fight already happened, with victory going to Hikari in a first round knockout. Fortunately, nobody looked disappointed, at all. We've got them right in the palms of our hands.

I am currently occupied with an activity that I have performed just about every day since leaving the rookie challenge. I am for lack of a better term entranced by the images of the television news broadcasts. I do this for multiple reasons. I need to prepare for any new remarks that may come from Hikari. Another reason is to keep me abreast of contest results and find out if or when Hikari will get her first ribbon.

The final reason, which is admittedly a minor one is to see myself on the screen; a habit I've formed to be my own critic and find ways to improve my image and appearance for future contests. This exercise has helped me in many ways. Perhaps most important is the fact that I won my third ribbon in Sinnoh at the start of November in Solaceon town using the appeal of Misdreavus and the newest member of my team, Flareon in battle. I also watch Hikari in contests, but that's mostly to see if she's won, and what she has worn.

When I watch myself in contests, I often do not say any words or mutter any thoughts. My routine includes and is limited to me sitting in a couch or chair and watching the battle. I take no notes on pen or pencil and paper. I barely move; the most active parts of my body being my eyes as they move across the TV screen looking at me, and any other time Hikari, in action. Often times, I am jolted out of my concentration, which is higher than a glass of orange juice from a carton by a voice. Nothing really has to be specific about this voice, it just has to be someone-- anyone at all calling out my name.

"Paging Nozomi. Nozomi Kobashi to the front desk, please. Your pokemon are ready."

Just like that.

I quickly go to turn off the TV, because no one else was in the room with me, and swiftly walk to the front desk. The Canalave City Nurse joy greets me once again.

"All of your pokemon are resting just fine." she says in her and her cousin's typical cheerfulness.

"Thanks again, Nurse Joy." I reply in earnest. As I head to leave through the exit doors and travel to Floaroma town, Nurse Joy answers a telephone at the desk.

"Oh, Nozomi!" she shouts to get my attention before I can leave the center. "There's a lady here on the line that would like a word with you." I'm not really surprised. Reporters have had one of two options to try and contact me for information on the rivalry I've concocted. Either wait until I've left one interview and ask, or call from a pokemon center when they've found out that I have arrived in a specific town. I don't mind doing them, although they can end up being quite repetitive after doing as many as I have. I just tell myself that this has less to do with me than it does me and Hikari together in this feud. I thank Nurse Joy for holding the call and take the receiver to the non-video phone.

"Hello?" I ask whoever this might be at the other end of the line.

"Zoey?"

Oh dear Lord. That voice. That name. Damn it! How could I have forgotten about her?

"I've been vacationing for about the last six weeks. Trying to get away from it all, trying to forget the troubles of the world, you know? Wouldn't you know that the very second that I come home from a nice relaxing vacation, I'm literally bombarded by news reporters and tabloid wanting to know things as outrageous as if I should have my daughter institutionalized. Of course I respond the only way any sane human being would... I asked them 'what the fuck are you talking about?' in a loud and almost screaming voice wanting to choke out anyone that said anything negative about my only girl. And that has been the reaction to many questions they've posed in my direction. Again, I respond just like I mentioned wanting to know why people think my daughter belongs in a freaking loonybin."

"Someone tipped me off to look online and see the interview that you did at the rookie challenge, and to be honest, I still don't understand things any more than when I first came back home. What I could gather from it is that you apparently hate this girl who is coordinating, but that's as far as I can see into this nonsense. I found out that this girl is the daughter of your idol Ayako, which threw yet another monkey wrench into this conundrum. So dear, would you kindly explain to me just what the hell is going on? And no need to do that over the phone. I want to sit down and here this." She affixes that last comment with a light chuckle. "So come home as soon as possible, Zoey. I prefer Thanksgiving or sooner, so we can figure out this mess and I can figure out what happened to my daughter since I went away. So what do you say to that?"

There is quite possibly no other individual in the whole wide world that can turn me into jellyfish like the person on the other end of the line is able to do. It's my mother, Hitomi Kobashi and she is pissed off to no end. For what reasons, it is exceedingly crystal clear. Like most everyone that cares about pokemon coordinating, she was not impressed. The difference between the world being mad at me for my remarks and my mother being steamed is almost like night and day.

Comparing the scolding that I would get from both the pokemon contests promoters and the Grand Festival Administration to the lashing that I expect from my mother when I come home in a couple of days is like comparing a bountiful reward with a prison sentence. While my late father Keiichi was a staunch disciplinarian in his own right, I've always contended that my mother was the one that could always bring me to my knees. The only issue that I ever won with her involved my refusal to wear dresses since the age of about four. That is something I still don't understand how I was able to get my way with, but like mom would always tell me, count your blessings.

"Well, Zoey? Do you have anything to say at all to me, or would you like to save it all for when you see me?"

It's hard to put into words what I'm thinking at the moment, so I just take the path of least resistance to try and get mom off of my back... for now, at least.

"Uhh..." I sheepishly vocalize.

"Hello mother. How was your vacation?"

* * *

A/N: In chapter five, Nozomi tries to explain what is going through her head to her mother, along with why she feels a rivalry will bring Hikari and herself closer together. And a character who will have a bigger impact in later arcs of this story makes his debut. 

If you don't know who 'he' is by now, (though I think it's pretty obvious) you will find out in chapter six.

I've honestly been very surprised and pleased at how this story has been coming along thus far. I started writing the initial chapter in early March 2007, and my current goal is to have this first arc, which will be six or seven chapters long, contain over 60,000 words. It now appears that this story as a whole could well eclipse 250,000-300,000 words.

I ask all of you to be patient with this story. I realize that we are far from romance at this point, but I assure you, it will come, and when it does, you will not be disappointed.

As always, leave your constructive criticism and check back on my author's page for updates on this and other stories.


	5. Don't Lie to Yourself

Sharing

Faced with the very real possibility that she could lose her hair, rookie coordinator Hikari Kamiko suffered a very emotional nervous breakdown in front of a small audience in a ladies restroom. Though much in the vein of Hikari, she bounces back from this momentary heartache and prepares for the challenge before her. Before leaving the hospital however, she meets with and talks to eight year old cancer survivor, child prodigy, and pokemon coordinating fan Alexis O'Connor, and gets a new perspective on her current issue with Nozomi.

She leaves, and is confronted by her mother via videophone wanting to know what is going on, but she says very little. After that, she gives a statement to the world in her hometown of Twinleaf. After the speech, she goes home, with her mother now demanding answers to her previous questions. After much coaxing, Hikari emotionally reveals everything to her mother. Ayako responded tearfully, but thankful that Hikari was honest with her. Any previous friction between her and Ayako is supposedly eliminated after a long hug between mother and daughter.

Nozomi had great concern that she was losing control of her own planned out rivalry, but those concerns were eventually squashed after she concluded that her fears were the result of hallucinations due to her concussion. Just as it seemed that everything was back to normal for Nozomi as far as her rivalry with Hikari was concerned, she was hit with a major shocker as her mother calls up from out of the blue knowing full well the brunt of the activities her daughter has been a part of over the last month and a half. Hitomi Kobashi has demanded that her daughter come home as soon as she can to explain herself. What will Nozomi say to her mother? Will Hitomi buy any of it at all?

NOTE: The chapter is entirely in the point of view of Nozomi.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Pokemon, a creation of one Satoshi Tajiri, and is produced domestically (in the United States) by Pokemon USA/TAJ/The Pokemon Company, and internationally by Shogakukan and OLM. I personally own nothing and make nothing by writing this. Please do not flame.

(Chapter 5- Don't Lie to Yourself)

* * *

November 23, 2006 (Thanksgiving Day) 

I couldn't tell you for the life of me the type of feelings going through my head, as I am about to head home to see my mother face to face for the first time in about six months and the first time I've talked to her prior to her phone call out of nowhere in about two or three. I phoned her late Wednesday evening to tell her that I would be home in time for Thanksgiving. She said that I should take my time, as she didn't want to hear any details over the phone rather that it would be best for me and her that I get my many thoughts together and then tell all on Thursday.

It's difficult to say what I will do when I talk to her. My mother and I have always had a very good relationship since I was very young. The reason I don't see her as often as I would like is because due to her profession, she works insanely long hours. We try to make contact as often as possible, but both of us have become occupied with our own pet projects as of late.

My mother is a lawyer who is currently part of a very large law office, but is slowly making the transition to being her own boss and running her own practice. It's been something she's talked about ever since one year prior to me leaving for my journey. I completely supported her, despite the fact that we knew that we would experience a great amount of disconnect due to this major life change.

My pet project, of course has been to foster contention with Hikari, but I went into this endeavor knowing full well that I had to keep everything my own little secret, or face the consequences of conning everyone into believing that there was true dissention between me and Hikari.

I told myself over a month ago that if there were ever someone that I would share my master plan with, it would be my mother. The only problem is that I said those things while in a hospital bed, and very much incapacitated. Those thoughts may very well have been more hallucinations than backup plans, because the idea of my mother being a part of this cooked up farce is almost humorous by design.

Well, all shall soon be answered as I continue on this long early morning walk. Looking at my poketch, I see that it is a little after 6:00 a.m., and I am making near perfect time as I've entered the Snowpoint city limits. My home is about 10 minutes away. Taking in the fresh morning air, I become more confident than I was when I made my trek at midnight. When I began this walk, my travel mood resembled more of me beginning a walk on the road to perdition than a mere visit with 'mommy dearest'.

Perhaps after I tell her what I am willing to say and not what she forces to say after it is interrogated out of me, she will only subject me to the rest of my childhood in a state of purgatory. In that situation, I will hear from mom the words 'ethics' and 'morals' and 'tradition' among other anaphors inserted within my head as she sets me straight about why I was wrong to go this particular route to help someone who I believed only needed some minor coaching to get to the next step.

I have no choice but to consider every premise that I may encounter when I see my mother. The truth is that there is no guarantee that she will believe the fact that I have this much dislike for someone that I have in fact met less than five times. And if what she told me over the phone is true-- that there are people out there that are legitimately questioning my sanity, it would only make sense to clear the air and prevent things from getting out of control as far as that question is concerned.

I don't enjoy lying to my mother under any circumstance, but there is another part of me which says that if I can get away with saying how much I hate Hikari here and now, it'll be smooth sailing to the end of my feud with Hikari, whenever that may happen.

I see my house. I take a deep breath, preparing myself for whatever I have to face when I see her. All of my plans could either go straight down the toilet, or I can continue my work to form the rivalry without any interference from mom. I won't know what path my plans will take until I see my mother, which should be in about two minutes, as I head to our condominium that me and mom have lived in since I was about nine years old.

I head to the front door at about 6:15 a.m., and proceed to ring the doorbell to my house. I only have to wait about ten seconds, which gave me very little time to consider any final ideas on what to say before the door is opened. I stand there, and see my mother Hitomi, which might as well be me looking into the future, due to the fact that we look very much alike despite the age difference.

I greet my mother first. "Good morning mom."

"Good morning, Zoey. And Happy Thanksgiving." She says, using my nickname that dad gave me since I was born. My mother has never particularly cared for 'Zoey', but has called me it since dad died. The (nick) name Zoey means life in Greek, and dad was told at an early age that he would not be able to have children. To him, I was his life, and I believe especially with how things ended for him that no matter what, a part of him would always live in me.

Mom would tell me much later in life that dad gave me my real name Nozomi not simply because it rhymed very well with her name, but for what in his mind were more symbolic reasons. He always told my mom that along with life, Nozomi represented hope, and that 'one would never be that far from the other', and that's the way he hoped that my relationship with mom would remain.

She comes out of the house entrance and gives me a big hug. I couldn't tell whether she was doing it because we hadn't seen each other in several months or due to the fact that I've stirred up such great controversy in the pokemon world that she fears this big disconnect from me after the damage has already been done.

I return her previous greeting after just a few seconds. "Happy Thanksgiving, mom." Although we've had a loving relationship as far back as I can remember the word 'loving' is not the word I would use to describe our bond at all. 'Odd' would be much more appropriate.

She's the type of mother who will scream and yell at you for doing something wrong one minute, or in the case of dad and me one hour, and hold you, cuddle you and protect you from harm and danger the next. Talk about a serious case of bipolarity. For all I know, she has never had it checked, but me and my extended family have never had to worry about mom, because she always had a strong head on her shoulders, even after dad's untimely death.

"Come on in, dear. I've got something to show you." Mom says to me with a higher level of happiness and excitement than what I have been inclined to expect in the past.

"You've been away for almost eight months now. Our family and friends knew that you would come home for either Thanksgiving or Christmas, so I connected with them either by phone or by mail and told them to have whatever gifts, letters or other odds and ends they had for you ready prior to Thanksgiving. So, I made no changes whatsoever to your room, aside from the care packages that the Kobashi's and the Saito's (Hitomi's maiden name) have sent your way placed throughout you room." My mother says this while leading me to my room.

In my room, which over the past several months I had obviously forgotten exactly how it looked, there is just about anything that a pokemon coordinating and training fanatic could ask for, combined with the modesty and conservatism that my mother would prefer from her only daughter. The room is painted in a nice blend of a somewhat light hue of red (like my hair) with a black trim.

On the walls are several posters. That much I could tell you if I went blind tomorrow. The two most notable posters however are one of Ayako being officially presented her Sinnoh Grand Festival trophy. I would look at it several times a day and tell myself that if I dedicated myself to working hard and learning all that I could, this along with much more would be in my future.

The second most important poster in my room has absolutely nothing to do with pokemon. It is a poster featuring images from the 1996 gold medal winning U.S. Olympic Team from Atlanta. The most glaring of the images on the photo is Bela Karolyi holding an injured Kerri Strug. It inspires me in two different ways. One is that no matter how hard you work towards setting goals, your dreams can be shattered in the blink of an eye.

The other lesson that I learn from this poster is that you only have as much ability as you allow yourself to have. In this world, we dictate our own destinies, it's just that fate will often throw curveballs in our face and we as imperfect creatures don't care enough to bring a catcher's mask.

Thinking about this iconography while on my journey has given me the necessary confidence needed to not only win three ribbons, but also fend against the unpredictable Hikari as well. Though I cannot dictate the girl's thoughts, I can be a better discipline of myself by willing myself to go on, even if it hurts; much like Kerri Strug did at Atlanta.

As I came face to face with my bedroom entrance, mom finally steps aside to let me open the door. She has in all likelihood set up a surprise for me to find on the other side. I don't think much of it until I actually open the door and see mountains of letters, clothing, outdoor accessories, food and just about any other essentials that could be imagined.

They were piling on my bed, covering my carpet, and overflowing the inside of my closet next to my numerous tuxedos. Wherever you could imagine a place inside of a child's bedroom, that place was occupied by... stuff! Nothing really differentiated anything from the next thing aside from the fact that all of it was stuff piled on top of more stuff.

As my eyes seemingly imitated active windshield wipers combing the encapsulated premises, I came across something distinguishing itself from the rest of the materialistic pigsty that is my bedroom at this moment. It was my desk where I did most of my grammar school homework and made it the ultimate task to formulate the perfect pokemon team of six.

The thing that was different to the desk compared to the last time that I saw it was the two very high stacks of letters from what I presume to be members of my extended family scattered all over the world.

"Oh my." I exclaim as I laid my eyes upon the sight of the twin towers of personal correspondence. I walk to the display and immediately take the first letter from the taller of the stacks. I am pleasantly surprised by the name of the person on the return address.

"Hey! It's from Sebastian!" Sebastian is my younger cousin from the paternal side of the family. Outside of all of the members of my immediate nuclear family and my late best friend Makoto, he has been my number one supporter.

He is currently in my birthplace of England being formally educated at a boarding school, but promised me prior to me leaving for my journey that he would catch me on television or radio whenever he could spare the time. Opening the letter, I read that he is very proud of me right now and hopes for nothing but the best as I continue.

What I didn't expect he would write about was the fact that he was behind me in my budding feud with Hikari. While everyone else that I've met, seen or talked to since my now infamous interview one month or so ago has viewed me with immeasurable scorn, Sebastian has given me complete support 'no matter what you do or say' being his own words.

He goes on to say that 'whatever that girl must have done to you, she deserves what she gets from the best new coordinator in the entire world'. To say the very least, the boy idolizes me and he believes that I can do no wrong. How sweet. His praise, while meaning well, is good for a laugh or two in my book. To be quite frank, the praise should really be going to him from me.

Upon reading his letter, I take a post-it note out of my desk drawer and write down a note to remind myself to respond to him as soon as possible. I write on the post-it, 'RE: To Sebastian X. Kobashi', place it on his letter and set it aside in a new pile for response letters and 'Thank You' notes. I'll need to thank him and wish him the best in boarding school. I go through all of the other letters after making the note to write back to Sebastian. In them are words of encouragement from family and friends, and in all there were almost 100 letters.

I got a large amount of money as most family and friends who wrote knew that I would need it at the start of my journey. I was surprised when I found that with the abundance of letters, the money appeared to add up just as quickly, and I got a total of over $3,500 that my mother promised she would place little by little in savings once the holiday weekend ended.

Taking a second look at my poketch today, I see that opening up those many letters and scouring through the many gifts from relatives and friends has taken up over three hours of my time since arriving home. It is now 9:53 a.m. Making numerous changes and adjustments to my room to turn the mountains into more suitable molehills, I am once again interrupted by my mother, who raps at my bedroom door.

"Zoey?" she asks quietly. "Could you come in the living room, please? I believe we have something to discuss." The joy that I previously experienced while looking through all of the gifts given to me by close friends and relatives was quickly shattered by the mere thought of that final word which came out of her mouth.

We had something to 'discuss'. I'm not a shallow idiot. I know exactly what she wants to discuss. She wants to get to the bottom of why I have seemingly become public enemy number one in pokemon coordinating. I have to stand my guard for this one. I need to shoot from the hip and make up one of the more convincing stories that I possibly can, because in this instance, the truth really did hurt.

I leave my room for the first time in now almost four hours and take a trip to the nearby restroom, trying to draw out the inevitable as long as I possibly could. After about three or four minutes, I come face to face with my mother, who is sitting in the family room.

The warmth of the room cannot be ignored, as I noticed in the other room the oven is on and holds what I presume to be a small part of our Thanksgiving dinner. My mother motions for me to sit across from her and I silently acquiesce to her request.

My mother starts by taking one deep breath. "Okay, dear. Here's how it's gonna work. You can choose to do this either the easy way, or you can choose to do this the hard way. The easy way, is that you tell me the truth, nothing more and nothing less, and I will figure out what to do with you when I find out the whole truth."

"The hard way is that I will force the truth out of you one way or the other, so no matter what happens I will get what I want. The ball is most certainly in your court, Zoey. With that said, whenever you're ready to speak, I'm all ears." Mom then crosses her left leg with her right and crosses her arms as well.

Mom is determined to get her way, and I can't say that I blame her. Though her demeanor over the past several days might have suggested to some people a great level of apathy on her part as it pertained to my comments, I should not be and am not fooled. A great way to describe my mother is a soft-spoken assassin; a snake waiting in the weeds for the perfect opportunity to strike at her prey. Nobody knows about this behavior of my mom more than I do; I've lived with the woman for most of my young life.

"What have you seen or heard so far that you would consider 'incriminating' about me?" I ask this hoping to better formulate my story.

"Only your rookie challenge interview. That's all." I am silently cheering this lack of information possessed by mom. The fact is, the less that she knows now, the less that I have to make up on the spot. The rookie challenge interview painted a picture of a very arrogant, lazy, loudmouthed and conceited girl in Hikari. If I can remember at least half of what I said a month ago and paint a clearer, more transparent portrait, then I will have accomplished my goal and will avoid any scolding from mother dearest.

"Okay, mom. You wanted the truth? You've got the truth." I reply. "I met Hikari back in the month of June. She was at her very first pokemon contest, you know? You would think that someone pursuing the endeavor of their first ever contest would be somewhat nervous and jittery, trying to make heads or tails of the whole situation, right? The fact that she is now a part of the same spectacle that she has watched on TV as a young girl just a few months prior would give anyone nervous jitters."

"Well, when I saw her for the first time, I was absolutely appalled at her behavior towards everyone. The way she walked into the contest house, you would have thought that she owned the place. I've never seen a rookie coordinator more arrogant and more aggressive than I saw Hikari. As you know, she's the daughter of the coordinator Ayako, who is one of the main reasons why I became a pokemon coordinator, and I couldn't for the life of me imagine that someone with that kind of attitude and standoffishness could be the daughter of one of the classiest and most graceful Grand Festival champions of all time."

"If I can recall back to those two days, she left a real sour taste in my mouth, mom. After she got off the phone with her mother, she bragged about how she was going to 'wipe the floor' with whichever coordinator or coordinators got in her way. After a quarterfinals match with one of her traveling buddies, whom I defeated, it came down to me and Hikari in the semifinals. Prior to the match, she told me in a private conversation that it would be a tragic mistake to take it easily on her, because 'I will leave you naked and exposed for the viewing public to see' and those are the exact words that she used on me."

"After a long and hard fought battle, which I won, I went in her direction to shake her hand, and in the poorest showing of sportsmanship imaginable, she refused. When I went backstage just a few minutes later, she was once again on the phone with her mother, crying like the world's biggest baby getting her lollipop stolen about how she tried her best and how she did things 'the right way'. I almost scoffed out loud upon hearing this, and she even refused to applaud for me when I eventually won my ribbon. As I left the contest house, she had this profanity laced tirade that she screamed at me saying, and I'll clean this up for you, 'next time, I won't be so... f-ing easy on your… rear end'. I thought very little to nothing of it, because I had not planned on ever seeing her again in competition."

"Then about four months pass, and along comes the rookie challenge at the Sevii Islands. I came there not expecting to see her, but very surprised when I walked around one day and heard a heckler near the beach as I was practicing a new routine with Misdreavus and Flareon. It turned out to be Hikari, who was also invited to the rookie challenge. I was angry at her for the abusive obscenities she screamed in my direction, and this act of making fun of me and calling me names like 'redheaded stepchild', 'half-girl', 'tuxedo terror', and the one that truth be told got a bit of a chuckle out of me; 'Tom Boy Kobashi', all of them kind of sent me over the edge. That's why I said the things that I said in my interview, but Hikari is a very crafty young girl."

"She says and does all of these incriminating things away from the other coordinators or casual observers and cameras, so nobody except me has caught her in the act of verbally breaking me down. That is why it seems that I appear to be the bad girl and Hikari looks to be the good girl. She may very well be the world's greatest actress, because when she plays the part, she can be the most convincing innocent, naive little girl, but I see her for what she truly is; a stuck-up, stubborn and arrogant girl who was born with a silver spoon in her mouth. You wanted the truth? There's the truth. That's my story, mom, and I'm sticking to it." I can only hope and pray to whatever gods exist that she bought my story and will no longer try to press me for any of the real details.

Those insults, though obviously not directed towards me by Hikari, are just some of the more tame insults that I've heard at contest houses region wide. Some outspoken traditionalists have lambasted me for not falling in line, and not being a uniform coordinator. I wear tuxedos and I am a girl, and that appears to be a problem with some people. I do that because I'm comfortable in that garb, and until someone from the head offices tells me that I can no longer wear so-called boy's clothing, then I will continue to do that which I'm comfortable doing, and that's that.

"Okay, but how do you explain this... stipulation that you two now have?" mom replies. Breaking down the reasons why I have so much 'hatred' for Hikari was relatively easy compared to the bridge that I am currently facing by trying to explain the stipulation. Because Hikari was the one who told the world about the deal we made at the emergency room, the origins behind how the wager came about will more than likely be taken with a grain of salt by mom. I'll have to carefully weigh my words so as not to incriminate myself any more than necessary with what I know.

I form a story where I went to Hikari and asked her point blank why she said the things she said to me. Those things of course being the derogatory statements I told mom she said, but she has never actually said. I tell her that Hikari wanted to prove to me that the win I got against her back in June was nothing more than a fluke. I then continue, saying that Hikari felt that she was capable of defeating anyone in the world, but wanted to know if I felt the same about her abilities.

I gave her an emphatic 'no' and told her without hesitation that I thought her attitude was the one thing that hindered her from making any headway in coordinating. I tell mom that I told her that had she went into the coordinating business with some level of humility and respect for those that have come before her, she might have gotten the support of people that could have been a big help to her along the way.

She then comes up with the stipulation, and goads me into putting my money where my mouth is and put something of great importance or value on the line, like she did. I told the story assuming that she has not heard that it was in fact me who came up with the deal between Hikari and I, but the way I stated my peace made Hikari look even more brash and cocky than in the story where I described the first time that we met, because she is the one who confronts me to instigate her plan and catch me in the ruckus.

I can't tell by just looking into her eyes whether my mother believed a word that came out of my mouth. She has said absolutely nothing outside of pressing me for more information about the stipulation that was in reality my own brainchild. What I can tell that my mother is doing now is walking from her chair over to me while I'm still sitting on the sofa.

I give mom a very tentative look as she comes closer and closer towards my person. I have no idea what is going through this woman's head, but I have kept a very sharp glaze in her vicinity, never once taking my eyes off the woman who gave me life. Again the viewing of my mother in motion coming nearer and dearer to me causes me to look forward into the future, as I see much of myself in her.

She stands high atop of me, and I am very quickly reminded of just how small I am compared to the people that have come before me. I may become physically as big as a house, but looking at my mother will always cue me into the fact that no matter how big and strong you are, there is someone out there that has more important traits like intelligence and experience behind them. While I have seemingly waxed nostalgic about growing up and the influence that my mother has over me, my mother and I have not spoken a single word to each other.

"Zoey." she begins. "Do you remember what I told you before you started speaking to me about this Hikari situation?"

I am quite nervous right now, but my thoughts are not clouded enough to the point that I have forgotten her ultimatum to me at the start. "Yes." I reply with little vigor in my pitch. "You told me that... we could do this either the easy way, or we could do this the hard way, and that the ball was in my court."

"That's correct, dear. And knowing full well what that meant and still lying directly to my face? That makes me feel really sad, Zoey." Goddamnit! She didn't bite! Crap! What am I gonna do now?

"And you know what happens whenever I feel very sad, dear. I need to feel better. I need a good... laugh." She is slowly telling me this while holding up my left leg parallel to the cushions of the sofa in her direction. I already know what's going to happen, and I feel dread wash over me like rain water on an April afternoon.

"Mom? Come on, now. Is that really necessary? Can't we talk this over?" I beg and plead for her mercy, hoping to escape this ordeal unscathed. I know full well what she's going to do. She has used it so many times on me to get me to confess, you would think I'd be used to it, but I haven't grown immune to the treatment she is about to give to me.

She's a lawyer, but before that she worked for police departments as an interrogator, so she knows many ways to get people to fess up. I just wish it didn't have to be this one. I sincerely envy the criminals, because they are getting off easy compared to the punishment that mom is going to give to me in less than a minute.

Mom continues to rub my leg through my tattered and worm blue jeans, as she starts to head to my left foot. Encapsulated within my boot is my foot and a black sock, both of which she removes in near record time. My left foot is bare, and I couldn't count the number of times I asked my mother to please reconsider what she was going to do.

"I told you, Zoey, that one way or the other," she articulates, "I was going to get the truth out of you. Now do you want to talk, and give me the truth right now, or do I have to do something I just might regret?"

I look at her with stern eyes, promising myself in confidence that I wouldn't expose my own hand and tell anyone that my ill feelings towards Hikari were not authentic. With this pseudo-confidence, I said to her with my head held high and my heart idling at 7,000 beats per minute, "do your worst."

She then proceeds to grab my left ankle with her right hand and bring her left hand into the fray. I close my eyes anticipating the worst, as my mother begins to apply her greatest interrogation technique of them all; she is tickling me by one of my most sensitive spots, that being the soles of my feet. Mom has found one of my most glaring weaknesses; I am extremely ticklish, and once prompted with a touch of one of my sensitive areas, I burst out into uncontrollable laughter, much like right now.

Mom talks through the course of me laughing like a bunch of hyenas at the Laugh Factory. "Are you going to tell me the truth now, Zoey?"

I would respond to her request with an emphatic 'no', but I am unable to talk in the face of all of the giggling I'm doing. "Ha ha ha. Mom, stop it! Ha ha ha. Mom, stop! Damn it, that's not fair! Come on!"

Mom stops, I presume to scold me for cursing. "Are you going to tell me the truth or not?" I'm surprised that she didn't say anything about my profanity, but the look of confusion I give her is only a momentary one. I bring myself back to answer the question she asked. I show her a smile before I tell her "No."

My mom takes a deep breath. "You asked for it, Zoey." My mother goes back to my feet, this time using both of her hands to put the full force of her attack onto my right foot. I scream out in laughter for about ten seconds, but do not renege to her original request. I get a look into her eyes, and I see that this exercise is taking a lot out of her. All of a sudden, she stops her activity and stands up. She looks at me directly in the eyes, and darts her hands to the direction of my armpits. This causes me to make the difficult but necessary decision to wave the white flag, and tell my mother what really happened between me and Hikari.

"All right! All right! All right! Enough! Enough! For the love of god, don't do that, mom! You know better. I'll tell you the truth, mom. You've got what you want, mom. You win. I'll tell you everything."

While the soles of my feet are quite sensitive to the touch and will often cause me to laugh hysterically, my armpits are undoubtedly my most responsive area as far as bodily contact is concerned. One time, when my best friend Makoto and I were horsing around in my parent's house, he found this out the hard way. After about two minutes of tickling by my best friend and me screaming in laughter and begging him to stop, I passed out.

He was scared out of his mind, with the fearful thought that I might've literally died laughing. He told my parents what happened, and to their credit, they weren't mad. They were just disappointed that he didn't stop when I told him to. Another factor in their actions was most likely the fact that I was going to be okay.

Despite this assurance by the doctors, Makoto was pretty damn heartbroken about the entire situation, and when he saw me after waking up in the emergency room, he just could not stop crying and apologizing to me for what occurred.

Looking back on the ordeal, nothing I've ever seen was so cute and so pathetic at the same time. In all fairness, though, I should cut my late friend some slack, as we were only four years old at the time, and I could understand someone feeling a great amount of concern for causing their friend to pass out. Even if the friends were in their 30's and part of an unforeseen situation like we were, there would probably be much apologizing done in that scenario, as well.

He asked me while I was lying in the hospital bed, "Do you still want to be my friend, Nozomi?", and I'll admit that I cried a little when he said that. Not just for the simple fact that he valued our friendship so much, and felt that his actions ruined it, but because he was crying when he asked his question and the moment was quite emotional for the both of us. Another reason was that it was quite clear to me that my friend was suffering. I never did cry often, but he made me cry when he thought his mistake would cost him his best friend.

Perhaps he was fearful that I was going to tell him no, much like I told my mother 'no' to informing her of the truth about Hikari, but I will never know for sure. A big part of me wanted nothing more than to console him, which I did... somewhat. What I told him when he asked that fateful question was "Sure," and then I was bombarded with a big hug from my friend.

We always would have each other's backs and quite frankly, I wouldn't have it any other way. I miss Makoto every single day of my life, and wonder just what my life would be like if he was still alive. I look back, but it is very useless to dwell on that which I cannot control. Besides, Makoto will always have a place near and dear in my heart.

There are tears in my eyes as I face my mother, preparing myself to bear all. The tears are a combination of the tickling that she has done in the last few minutes and just the thoughts in my head concerning Makoto. It was a combination of elation and melancholy. "Maybe it's just best that I start from the beginning and come clean. Is there anything in particular that you want to know beforehand?"

"No." My mother simply replies.

I suck in a large amount of air. To prepare myself, I ask mom if I could have a glass of water before I start. She silently obliges with a nod and I pour one in the kitchen, where I see the items in place for a Thanksgiving meal for two. It's a non-traditional spread to say the very least.

On the table where we will soon eat is a loaf of pumpernickel bread, carrot and tomato soup, spinach quiche, a large bowl of garden salad, baked potatoes, pasta salad and the main course, which has not yet been prepared, two large filet mignon steaks. The only thing in this kitchen that I would consider traditional Thanksgiving grub is a pan with whole peeled yams. We Kobashi's have always been ones to buck tradition, and Thanksgiving is another example of this attitude that we share.

Returning back to the living room, I start telling my mother the truth before I sit back down. "Okay. The truth is that I have been concocting a plan of sorts over the last five months or so. The only person that knows about this as of today is me. Until you, that is. The fact is that I do not hate Hikari at all."

"It's quite the opposite, in fact. She doesn't hate me either— that is to say that she didn't initially hate me until I said the things I said on the air. Honestly, I would hardly consider her to be arrogant, cocky or anything like that. I... made all of that stuff up. It's just not true."

"Then... what is true, Zoey?" My mother asks with a tinge of impatience lingering from her voice.

I take a deep breath and open up like a book. "When I first met Hikari back in June, she was in her very first contest in... I believe it was Jubilife City. She was nervous like everyone else would be in their first contest, and I was no exception when I had my first. She was dressed to the nines in a stylish pink party dress and getting her mother's opinion on how she looked. That's when I saw her. Glameow found an accessory which turned out to be the finishing touch to her appeal garb, and I saw my idol on the videophone screen."

"I thought to myself at the time, 'well this is cool, Ayako's daughter is going to become a coordinator just like her mom'. I also said to myself we could be very good friends. When I got to know some more about her and spend time with her alone and away from her traveling companions, I saw someone that had a completely different philosophy of life than I had ever seen with anyone else."

"If she was down or depressed, she wouldn't stay that way for long. I really liked that about her, and I guess in those moments that we had together, I told myself, you have to get to know this girl better, and you'll have a friend for life."

"After a while though, I saw her go out to make her appeal and do battle. She... is very good. If some things didn't go my way in our semifinal battle together with her Buneary and Glameow, she would've won. I think that there is something really special there, but if you're gonna be a great coordinator, that something special has to be let out on a more than consistent basis."

"A part of me is concerned that Hikari is going out there every time in the hopes of trying to impress her mom. If she tries that, she'll never win. Her career will be a failure, and a true friend would not just sit back and allow that to happen without taking a stand. If you want to coordinate, you have to do it for you and only you. She... she may learn that, and she may not, but a part of me wanted to help her anyway I could as far as furthering her career."

"That night, and many nights after that, I thought long and hard about what way I could help her, but not make it appear that I was coaching her through the motions. The only thing I could think of was to make what would have probably become a friendly rivalry between two of Sinnoh's fastest rising young coordinators into the most intense feud in not just coordinating, but all sports, as well."

"My only problem with executing this feud involved how I would start things and get the ball rolling. My answer came when I got selected to go to the rookie challenge back in September. I remember telling you about it, right?"

Mom nods her head. "That's right. I told you that I wanted to watch you in your interview, but couldn't because I was on vacation at the time."

"You never did tell me; how was Australia?"

"Great, but we're getting off subject, or rather, you are. Please continue, dear." Rats. Note to self; never try to get a lawyer off topic or you'll end up with either the short end of the stick or the long arm of the law.

"So, like I said, the rookie challenge was the answer to all of my problems. My plan was to go there and get an interview late in the challenge and... well... fire her up. Get her inspired in some way-- any way to make her want to improve and change her approach to pokemon contests. That is where the comments from the interview came about."

"After my time was up, it was very clear to me that in the quest to light a fire underneath Hikari, I did the same to everyone that heard my interview. For the remainder of that day, all I got from people were... I can only describe them as disappointed stares. And no one would talk to me. Oh! No, no. That's wrong. The only person that was not forced to talk to me but did nevertheless was my roommate for the week, Cindy Chalmers of the Johto Region."

"She talked to me, because even though she believed that Hikari didn't deserve to have those things said about her, she thought it took some guts to say the things she said. The next day, Hikari came to me and asked me calmly if I really thought no one could take her seriously if you don't take yourself seriously."

"So I laid out my end of the stipulation and then she came up with hers, and that was the end of our conversation; about five minutes or so." I don't think mom needs to know about the time spent in non-urgent ER, or the incident on the boardwalk the day after my comments.

The less said about those things, the better. Besides, nothing has been said about it in the media, and that is for the best. The fact that the media was only allowed to interview coordinators at the rookie challenge is what saved me from further embarrassment.

"I went through the rest of the challenge not seeing Hikari, and we promised each other as a means of making sure that neither of us would back away from our deal that we would talk about in on radio and television. That's what I've been doing the last few weeks until you called me out of nowhere. You see, mom? All I'm doing is playing up dissention between me and Hikari, and I'm doing it all for the two of us."

"People will pay big money to see either of us coordinate wherever we may go. Why? Because human beings feed off of drama. It provides for them more nourishment than ten Thanksgiving dinners, but the catch is that none of these people will have had their fill after the first match, the fifth match or the fiftieth match, because I plan to pace things the way I feel they need to be paced."

"Okay, Zoey. Enough" my mother gestures by gritting their teeth. She then proceeded to heavily sigh and shake her head in what I believe to be disapproval of my plans.

"You've told me the truth, and I thank you for that. Now I have a few questions of my own." She pinches her nose for a second or two and starts with a round of interrogation of a different sort. "If you wanted to help Hikari along, why did you feel that the best way to do that was to start a rivalry?"

I think this is an easy question, so I have no problems answering it with the truth. "You know the old saying, mom? Keep your friends close, but keep your enemies closer. If I became friends with her and just helped her along with sage advice every now and then, it's only gonna help her temporarily. I want something that can unleash whatever is inside of the girl and get her to be her own force in coordinating, so I decided the best path of action was to become her enemy."

"She doesn't need to do much to impress her friends, because they'll be satisfied knowing that Hikari tried her best. It's an entirely different thing altogether trying to impress your enemies, and she'll work her tail off to do that, and improve by leaps and bounds along the way. I made this rivalry and everything that will be a part of it for Hikari, and some for me."

"You mean that part where you talked about how people will want to buy and watch human drama if built up the right way" mom asks?

"That's right, mom. I didn't become a coordinator to become rich or wealthy or what have you, but if people want to share in our experiences together, why stop them from being a part of this grand experiment?"

"Experiment? Experiment!?!?" mom echoes.

I cringe somewhat upon hearing her reaction. "Maybe that was a poor choice of words, mom?" It was, because she is now coming towards me and pointing her finger in my face.

"I don't care what you do or what you say to try and... moralize what you're doing, Nozomi, but Hikari is not a fucking lab rat! She does not deserve to be treated like one, either! You're taking advantage of the emotions of people, and I don't give a damn how you slice it, that's wrong! That's especially wrong when you think that you can control people's thoughts and ideas! You're not God, Nozomi, so stop trying to play the part."

I knew that I pissed my mother off if I got her to curse, because she only does it when she is really mad. And she has switched back to using my real name. I have to interject myself back into this conversation. Now is the time. "But I'm not saying that I am in control of the way she thinks or feels, or the things she says! And besides, I already know that my plan to build the rivalry is a success."

"How so, Nozomi? How do you know that you have succeeded so far if you've only seen Hikari once since you're interview?"

Damn it! Mom's caught me in a lie-- again.

"Because..." I say on an impulse. "Because I met Hikari one more time before the end of the rookie challenge."

My mother has this very 'I knew it' look on her face now, almost as if she was waiting in the wings to catch me in a falsehood. She goes back to her seat and sits back down. "Please do explain, Nozomi" she says with a disturbing smile.

I was cornered, and decided to admit to the truth, before being caught in an even worse tangled web of lies and mistruths. Count it as yet another lesson to be learned in life; don't screw yourself up if you can help it.

"On the Friday of the rookie challenge," I restart, "I was going to take the whole day off, after I got frustrated seeing a picture of me in the local newspaper, and looking at articles that talked about how I was wrong doing what I did."

"You were. Wrong, that is." mom adds.

"May I finish my story? Please?" I ask, though I was somewhat rude to her. Rudeness breeds rudeness, however. She had been rude to me, but that didn't excuse me from being rude to her. My mother can at times be crude, and this is an instance where I suppose the apple does not fall that far from the tree.

"All right. You can finish your story. I'm sorry for interrupting you."

I bring my head down, but only for just a second before I continued. "That Friday, I decided to relax with Glameow and my other pokemon on the beach of the Sevii Islands. Those plans were put to a halt when... in reality; Hikari didn't calmly approach me and formulate the 'hair versus dress' stipulation. She screamed out a derogatory term while I was on the boardwalk, which caused me to turn my head and... Hikari punched me in the face and it led to a chain of events which knocked me out."

"The blow... sent me to the hospital. I suffered a mild concussion and a broken nose, but was eventually told by the doctors that if I just took it easy for a week or two, I would be fine. That much I expected. What I didn't expect was to find Hikari there at the emergency room waiting to talk to me about the things I said about her on live radio."

"We had a very heated discussion and I was afraid that she was going to beat the heck out of me on more than one occasion. In the midst of our argument, we came up with the basis of our stipulation, but... I must admit that Hikari really impressed me to the point that I was afraid I was losing control of my own master plan."

"The way that she talked about how she felt about me saying those things about her was great, and she had this 'refuse to lose' attitude down to a science. She was angry, no doubt, but the way she controlled her anger is the one instance which sets her apart from the time she came into my emergency room compared to the time that she left. After a few days, I came to the conclusion that the proximity of the time that I suffered a concussion to the time that Hikari and I had our talk made the possibility of delirium in my mind a very realistic one."

"The fact that Hikari, a girl I thought was quite naive and quite honestly somewhat of a ditz could bring down my psyche and put me in place like she did was scary. I found out that she did not need my help to build her up, because she had this attitude in her the whole time. It just needed to be released, and I happened to be the person who did it. Now I'm done, mom."

Mom again is shaking her head in what I presume to be great disapproval in my actions as of late. "By releasing this... anger from Hikari, you might have just unleashed Pandora's Box. You already know that she won't take much more of your bull crap. Is this really all worth it in your mind?"

There's a question I've heard (and asked) many times before. "Yes, ma'am. I'm willing to risk it all, because I believe in Hikari, even if there are times that she doesn't believe in herself."

"Zoey?"

Praise Moses. Mom has gone back to using my nickname. Mom is now gathering her thoughts as she prepares to speak again. I've given my mother just about everything of importance and substance that I can give her as far as whatever she might have wanted to know. "Come here, dear." she lightly orates.

I make my way over to her upon hearing her command. She than proceeds to stand back up as the air between the two of us decreases in size. "Zoey, I'll just say this, and if there is anything else you'd like to say to me afterwards, that's your prerogative. I thank you for telling me the truth, but you know better than to lie like that."

"I'm racking my brain trying to figure out why you would do this, and all I can think of is that you wanted to keep it all to yourself for fear that if you shared these secrets with anyone; they'd tell someone who would exploit its falsity. Right?" I silently nod to her.

"I can't... I can't say that I support this, but what I can say is that no matter what, so long as you, Hikari or anybody else doesn't get physically or emotionally hurt during this entire scenario or any other crazy schemes you do in your life, I will support you, Nozomi. Whatever you need please let me know. And please, dear, please I'm begging you, try to open up more. You can't go through life living like a hermit or an island unto yourself. Ever since Makoto died up until now, though I'll admit that Hikari is a special case, you haven't even tried to go out there and make a new friendship."

"I realize it was very tragic, but it's been over five years! What is it that... you know what? I'll just say this; I may not love the things that you have done or the things you are doing right now or the stupid, idiotic, crazy and asinine things I know that you'll do in the future, but I love you Zoey, and I only want what's best for you. What's best for you may or may not be what I want, and that's something I've come to learn over the years. Hell, if it were me, I would have just said to the girl 'Hey! My name is Zoey Kobashi. As a kid, I really looked up to your mother, and I just want to know if you'd like to be friends?'"

"That's not complicated at all, Nozomi, and I didn't need to make an enemy to do it, either. There would have been a rivalry, but you don't need to base a relationship on hatred, especially with someone that-- you said so yourself you wanted to get to know better." Mom brings me closer by grabbing onto my shoulders and pulling me close.

"Look. What I'm trying to say is this. There will come times down this long road where you will be faced with many difficult decisions. It may seem easy for you to lie to somebody else about your present situation, your feelings, everything for that matter. But the worst person you can lie to isn't your parents, it isn't your best friend, it's not your doctor, or any spiritual advisor in the world."

"Dear, you can say what you want to whomever you want, but please do me this favor; don't lie to yourself. You lie to yourself, and you could very well miss something important and special that will come into your life. You don't want to miss anything that could change your life for the better, now do you?"

"No. You're right" I say softly. "And if I'm more honest with myself, then I'll only naturally be more honest with others, including you, mom."

This statement by me puts a big smile on the face of my mom. "That's the spirit. Now give me a hug." I happily oblige. "I may not show my love like a, well... normal mom, but I want you to know that so long as I am here, you will always be loved. Do you understand?"

"I understand, and I'm glad. And besides, who the heck wants a normal mom anyway when I've got you?" I can honestly say that my mother and I have a relationship unlike any other mother and daughter in the whole of the world. Even though we may not show our love for each other all the time, we do understand each other, and when one hurts, the other hurts as well. A relationship is not just built on trust, but understanding and I'm fortunate to get to know and understand my mom better than I did before today.

We slowly let go of each other's embrace. "What time is it, Nozomi?" I look at my poketch and am surprised to see that it is about ten minutes until noon. I tell this to mom and she is quite surprised, as well. She then goes into overdrive preparing the filet mingon steaks for our dinner in a few hours or so. I stay in the living room, and check what is on the television to find some program to kill time beforehand.

Foregoing the annual reruns of classics like 'Miracle on 34th Street', 'It's a Wonderful Life', and a rerun of a charity game of soccer played back in the month of May, I finally stumble across what is a live pokemon contest in Floaroma Town. I do somewhat of a double take, as I didn't expect that many people to be a part of a contest during a holiday weekend and there were. I notice a face from one of my earlier contests and force myself to take a closer look.

"Wait a minute. It that... Kengo?" I speculate out loud. I ask myself this, because Kengo was the person I defeated in the finals to win my very first contest ribbon. He is another member of this rookie class of pokemon coordinators, much like Hikari and I. I can't remember seeing him at the rookie challenge, but I sincerely doubt that he made it, or chose to go. To describe Kengo, I'd say that he is a great guy who trains and cares for his pokemon such as Prinplup like no one else I've met while coordinating, and is the most humble and respectful of any male coordinator I've met, as well.

My only minor qualm about him is that often times; his attention is diverted from his goals. Even if it is only for that very brief moment, he loses sense of the main reason why he is a part of contests, and what his strategy is meant to display in a contest. That doesn't mean that I don't think he can succeed, I just believe that it's going to be very difficult for him to win and win often. I sit back, hoping to see who else is a part of this contest, but I hear a voice that didn't come from me or the television. Therefore, by process of elimination...

"Zoey? I think now is the best time for you to go and pay a visit to Dr. Yun before we sit down and eat." If hearing my mom's voice brings me chills at times, then hearing that cursed name makes me damn near sick to my stomach. I turn off the TV, knowing that there is no point in arguing with my mother concerning what are supposed to be required visits to his practice.

Doctor Yun has been my orthopedic specialist for the last four years. His sole purpose, along with being the supreme doctor of gloom and doom is to update me on the progressive condition of my right leg, which was severely injured when I was seven years old in a freak gymnastics accident.

Honestly, he is not that bad, but what makes him out to be 'gloom and doom' in my eyes is the fact that although my leg can be in the best condition imaginable, he always has some warning or caveat that I am to follow. For instance, prior to me leaving for my journey back in the month of March, he warned me to never attempt to exert myself for fear of injuring my leg again.

I promised him that I would not overexert myself, and though I have broken my promise about once or twice, I haven't experienced any wear and tear to my 'bad wheel'. I contend that I won't have any more problems because my leg is fully recovered, but mom insists that I make these appointments and if I don't, she will follow up with Dr. Yun's offices and force me to get my leg checked anyway.

So like I said, I make no arguments with my mother and head over to the local hospital to get checked out. The receptionists and the orderlies there know me so well, that all I have to do is show up and tell them what I need from the doctor, and I get it. Another advantage I have is that most of the people who work in this office have my mother as their lawyer or legal counsel. I've sat down and had dinner with just about all of them, and they have supported me on journey as well. Once the receptionist buzzed the doctor, it was only scant minutes before I hear a very cheerful voice coming from the office corridor.

"Well hello there, Nozomi. So how's our little firecracker coordinator doing this afternoon?" The doctor, despite his wackiness at times, is never one to break the line that comes between a doctor and his patients. That's clearly obvious when he brought up my now infamous interview just like anyone else that cares. Despite his feelings about it, which he never made clear one way or the other, he is the doctor who will stand by his oath and care for the sickly. I suppose that includes me, but I feel fine. If you are cynical, keep in mind that those are famous last words.

After getting some X-rays on my leg done, I am told to wait while they developed. After about 15 minutes or so, which I presumed were spent in his office handling some other projects or work, the doctor came back, hanging four pictures of my left leg. He then turns on a backlight and starts to talk about me and my present situation.

"These are the years where I am more legitimately concerned about your leg than at any other point in your life, Nozomi." My doctor tells me with a caring tone to his voice. "As you probably know through your mother and are personally finding out through experience, your body is going through many changes that will help you as you grow and mature into an adult."

Yun is of course talking about the dreaded 'P' word; puberty. I haven't seen what my mother tells me will be small but noticeable signs of these changes. I haven't noticed any increase in breast size, or hair in places that I did not expect to see, or the really odd thing that mom mentioned, menstruation, which the way she described it, you'd think it was a four letter word.

Anyhow, the only thing I notice that is in line with all the things she has told me concerning puberty is that I seem to go through more mood swings these days than in past years. Perhaps that's the reason why I thought I was losing control; it was the result of a mood swing, and I just had no idea how to handle the situations at hand.

"These changes could very well have an adverse affect on how your leg grows along with the rest of your body at such a rapid pace as it will. It still makes me cringe when I think about the shape your leg was in four years ago. From the middle of your ankle all the way down to your foot, you could have swung your limb just like a pendulum. I mean, you didn't just break your fibula and tibia, you tore just about every muscle, ligament and tendon in your lower leg, as well."

"Yeah." I punctuate. "I remember you saying at the time that the only thing uglier than the condition of my leg was the abstract art sculpture in your office. But in my sarcastic streak, I told you that at least the sculpture had an excuse." That gave the doctor an excuse to give me a hearty laugh.

"Well, like I was saying, Nozomi, I know that you're the type of person that goes out there every day and pushes herself beyond what is needed or expected. You've always been like that, wanting to walk almost immediately after having the major surgery. I'm just very concerned, not just as a doctor, but as a friend as well. We put rods, screws, pins, and steel apparatuses and plates just to keep that leg from falling apart at the seams because you wanted to walk before you physically could. I'm willing to be the farm on the fact that we put about half of an Erect-A-Set starter kit into your leg."

"And that's how I earned my nicknames here, as well" I say, jogging the memory of Yun. "I was 'The Bionic Girl', 'The Two Million Dollar Girl'; I was also 'The Machine' for a while, as well."

"There is one nickname that you forgot" Yun says, now apparently remembering some items from our last visit nearly a year ago.

"Which one" I legitimately ask, not remembering another nickname that I was called in the past.

Yun then grabs my right leg and then brings it back down. "Lead legs, Nozomi. You were called lead legs." I can't help but laugh. I was indeed known as lead legs, but if I recall correctly, I asked Dr. Yun to come up with something more creative, and the names I mentioned were a few that Yun and his assistants came up with.

"Like I said" Yun reminds, "you... have to know when to slow down, Nozomi, because only you can know the true shape of your leg. Don't feel like you have to put unneeded pressure on your leg if you can help it. Understand?"

"Yes, doctor. Thanks for your concern, but I promise you that nothing will go wrong with me. Am I done, sir?"

He flashes me a smile, just like he does with all of the patients that come into his practice and gives me the okay to leave. As I am about to leave the examiner's room, "Ahem." his voice cracks through the dry air of his large office. I turn around upon hearing this from the doctor, and in his hand were my favorites, even as a seven-year-old up to now; he's got Tootsie Pops, ten of them in all, and he tells me that they are mine. 'A little gift for my favorite patient,' he says. I smile widely at this present of his and thank the doctor before I leave with a hug. After leaving the office, I unwrap a cherry-flavored pop for the road.

The doctor may go through more flip-flops and jokes than a politician running for office, but there is no denying that he knows, loves, respects, and cares for his patients. Heck, like I said he's not that bad, but it'd be better if he just took my word, because the fact is my leg has not bothered me in almost a year and a half. Oh well. No sense in arguing with the doctor's sage advice to just be careful, but you could argue that that advice, a few x-rays and ten guilty pleasures of mine should not cost 500 dollars. Thank god my mom's a lawyer, because I think I need one. This is robbery.

* * *

A/N: Lots of stuff to cover here, so please pay attention! There will be a quiz afterwards! Just kidding! 

Find out who wins the stipulation in the next chapter, and read the hilarity as the loser goes through the entire process of preparation for a pokemon contest on primetime television.

For the record, although she said 'Praise Moses', Nozomi is NOT Jewish. This is not to say I have anything against the religion. If anything, she is a light form of skeptical agnosticism, which can be found in parts of previous chapters.

I forgot to mention in the end notes of chapter four that the character Alexis O'Connor will be a recurring character. As of this writing, her next appearance will be in chapter seven.

Doctor Yun is a recurring character, and so is Sebastian, but Yun will not been heard from again for a while.

Though trivial and inconsequential in nature, Sebastian's middle initial 'X' stands for Xavier.

If you go back to the end of chapter four, you'll find that Nozomi (Zoey) was about to go to the Floaroma Town contest before she got the call from her mother. Keep that in mind for this, and the next chapter.

Zoey mentioned in her fake story that she was practicing a routine at the rookie challenge in October with Misdreavus and Flareon. This is only half true, as she was actually doing this new routine a week or so after signing the contract that made the stipulation official in November.

Forgive me if there are some continuity errors, but keep in mind that Nozomi broke her right leg, and Hitomi tickled her left leg.

It didn't take long for me to decide that at 23,000 words, what would have been chapter five of six was just too long. Luckily, I found a point in the chapter that would evenly split chapter five, and what will be chapter six.

One thing that won't ever change; as always leave your constructive criticism and check my author's page for updates on these and future stories.


	6. Give The People What They Want

Sharing

Hitomi and Nozomi have a long talk, and come to a better understanding of each other and the rivalry that Nozomi has planned with Hikari. Nozomi is surprised to find letters and gifts from her family, including her favorite cousin Sebastian. Sebastian told Nozomi that he supports what she does no matter what.

NOTE: This chapter starts right where chapter five left off. The point of view switches from Hitomi to Hikari, followed by a brief third person point of view, and finally, we go back to Nozomi.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Pokemon, a creation of one Satoshi Tajiri, and is produced domestically (in the United States) by Pokemon USA/TAJ/The Pokemon Company, and internationally by Shogakukan and OLM. I personally own nothing and make nothing by writing this. Please do not flame.

(Chapter 6- Give The People What They Want)

* * *

As I prepared the marinade for the steaks that my daughter and I were going to eat in a few hours, it gave me some time to think. Some thoughts that were swimming through my head included; 'What in the world has gotten into Zoey?', 'Is my daughter fucking nuts?' and 'Why did she feel that she had to lie to me about something like this? 

Did she think that I wasn't going to figure out exactly what she was up to?' To say that Zoey had given me a lot of stress when she was a young girl and given me a ton of anxiety now with this stipulation involving Hikari, was saying the very least.

But the fact is that for some convoluted and unknown reason, she has always had to be different, or not do what every other girl was doing. She is the girl that in a few years as a teenager would probably scream out to the world 'Fuck Tradition', but even at three or four years old, that's how she's always lived her life. Very few things are sacred to one Nozomi 'Zoey' Kobashi. No matter what, she has my support, though. She has always had my full support.

I can remember when she was about four years old, while all of the other girls her age were playing with their Barbie dolls and playing dress up wanting to look just like their mommies; Nozomi would be content just having a conversation with Makoto, talking about pokemon. They could do it for hours, and if it were not bedtime for their biweekly sleepovers, they could have probably done it for days on end.

The two of them were absolutely inseparable. They had other hobbies and interests aside from pokemon, as well. Instead of playing with dolls, she was a part of the T-ball team, along with 'Mako' as she would often times call her only real friend. She was given her team's most valuable player award when she was the only girl that was a part of the squad. Makoto was a very happy child who always seemed to be full of life.

Then... there was that day that Makoto's parents noticed that Makoto was just plain listless most times. There were days that him and Zoey could play for hours on end and not feel tired, but right before his fifth birthday, things began to take a turn for the worst. They would rough house at times, and I noticed that while rolling in grass, Makoto would get bloodied up easier than before and suffer numerous bruises because of it. We would later find out that Mako was going through symptoms of leukemia, or cancer of the blood.

It was so sad, because Zoey insisted that we see him as often as we could. She told me that if he knew that he could beat this disease and he had the support of good friends like her, then he'd be playing in the park in no time. She had so much confidence that he would pull through, and... There were days that I couldn't muster up the courage to see him because I could tell that day after day, Makoto was getting worse and not better. I saw a young child dying before my eyes, and I tried to tell my daughter that things were not looking good, but Zoey didn't want to hear a word about it.

The day that Mako passed away was a day I won't soon forget, even if I live to be 120 years old. Zoey was going to her semiannual doctor's appointment, and wasn't able to see Makoto. She told him this the day before, and from what Zoey told me, Makoto understood. Then we came home, and got an unexpected visit from Makoto's parents, who said that my husband and I should wake up Zoey. After we got settled in, they told us the tragic news that while Zoey was getting her checkup, Makoto had passed away. They came late to our house as they informed the whole of their family of the sad news while at the hospital.

We all cried that night, but nobody cried as hard as Zoey. Perhaps it was the fact that she felt some level of guilt for not being there for her best friend in his final hours, but I can never be absolutely sure, because Zoey never opened up and told me exactly how she felt about his death. I didn't push and surprisingly, neither did my husband. We felt that being the child that she was, Zoey would bounce back from this tragedy, and to some extent she did.

Makoto's death occurred around the start of that summer, and because of it, they were obviously not able to attend kindergarten together. I remember it; because it was the last time that Zoey voluntarily wore a dress to any function was to Makoto's funeral. Zoey only told me that she was doing this because in her words 'I'd do anything for Makoto,' and this was certainly the last thing that I would expect, and something he rarely, if ever, got to see. But to be honest, even on the day in which family and friends were to pay their final respects to Makoto, I know that he would have wanted Zoey to come as she was.

Not long after that, I truly began to see the maturity in Zoey start to blossom. It was like the death of her good friend exposed her to the harsh reality of this life, and whenever you would see her, she would often keep to herself, especially in the immediate months after Makoto's death. While other children would misbehave in public, Zoey was always polite and cordial. I talked it over with my husband and we both decided that from the day after her friend's death to the day she dies, she can wear whatever she wants.

'Whatever she wanted' usually would mean in a collared shirt, a tie and khakis, which was actually the first outfit that she wore on the first day of kindergarten. But as I've seen on the television in recent years, she can really dress with a high amount of class and pride. I've often spent many minutes on the phone with her talking about her appeal, and how she looked classier than many of the boys in their tuxedos. Zoey would just laugh and say 'that's the idea, mom'. Though I've admired her 'classiness' and her meticulous wardrobe over the years, there have been many people that did not look at Zoey as fondly as my husband and I did.

All of the other parents would give me or my late husband these weird looks, and it didn't take much thinking to know what was on their minds. They were wondering why in the world would I allow her to dress the way she dressed, act how she acted and not say or do anything to try and change her. If any of them had had the gonads to come up to me and ask either me or my husband these things, I would have been more than happy to give them an answer. That answer would have been that my daughter is happy the way she is with the clothes she wears and the company she keeps, and so long as she is happy, nothing will change that. Truth be told, I've always felt a great deal of concern about her behavior over the years.

In the back of my mind, I've always wondered with her boyish clothes, her short hair, and never doing anything that would be considered outright girlish, that my daughter could be... no, no, no. She's too young to think about things like that, is she? But then again, there have been many gays and lesbians who claim that they knew long before Zoey's age. Listen to me. I'm like Chicken Little, worrying about my daughter's sexual orientation much like he was worried that the sky was gonna fall. Why do that?

She's never shown any interest in any girls... then again, she's never shown any interest in boys for that matter. Personally, I could care less if she shows any interest in the same sex. I wouldn't consider it a disgrace to the family, because it has very little to do with what the family wants for her compared to what Zoey wants for her. Like I told Zoey, so long as she is happy and she is not hurting anyone including herself, then I am happy. I can only hope that my message got through to her.

I take off my glasses and wipe the sweat from my brow. I'll admit that thinking about what the future holds for my only child makes me nervous, because even at a young age, Zoey has always been an unpredictable individual. I don't think that I need any added stress, but it's something that cannot be avoided in the future. I leave the kitchen and turn on the television, just to see if I can find something to alleviate my somewhat melancholy thoughts.

I notice that my daughter had left the television on a live pokemon contest. Normally, I would turn to see what else would be on and check back as I'm a fan myself. I just am not able to watch as many events as the transition in my occupation takes up much of what little free time I have. I relax as the announcers give the buildup and back story to this particular match. Though they have built the two competitors up well something, or rather someone that is not a part of the immediate fray has caught my attention-- my only daughter.

She is obviously not a part of this contest, as it is in Floaroma Town, but her name was mentioned about two or three times in the space of thirty seconds or so by the announcers covering the event. The announcers claim that this match, which is the finals of the Floaroma Town contest, would be the one to see who would get first dibs at Zoey, as she defeated both coordinators en route to two contest ribbons.

I turn up the volume in an attempt to get the names of the coordinators involved, which by the pictures on the screen I can at least tell that one is a boy and the other is a girl. After what initially appeared to be an exercise in futility, as apparently all the announcers wanted to talk about was Zoey, I find out that the name of the boy is Kengo, and the name of the girl is...

"Hikari? Zoey's Hikari?" I inquire.

There she was in all of her apparent glory was Hikari on my television. The girl that my daughter has attempted to hook like a salmon into her trap of a fake rivalry to in her mind help her succeed in coordinating and eventually get to know better as time goes on. Don't ask me to explain how the hell she's gonna do that because that could take a while. Looking at her, I doubt that she would even have it inside of her to hurt a common housefly, much less my daughter, who claims that she punched her causing a mild concussion the day after her 'Pokemon Talk' interview.

It's funny. I turned on the TV in an effort to keep me from having to continuously question my daughter's odd behavior and get me back into the holiday mood, but the fact that I turned it on and I saw this pokemon contest with her supposed new rival made things even worse in my mind. I have even more questions now that I have actually seen the girl. Why is she in the finals of this contest if she allegedly needed so much help and coaching? Just what is my daughter's motive for taking part in all of this risky business? I mean, this girl Hikari only has to win this match and Zoey will have lost her stipulation.

I think I'm getting a headache as my brain is being racked just thinking about what strange and tangled web Zoey has woven for herself. My daughter has put me through hell many times before, but I vowed that after my husband died, that I would never ever give up on her, but this plan of hers in my opinion is bordering between the nations of ridiculousness and insanity. I put my head down and look away from the television screen while the battle is already in progress and cup my cheeks with my hands. It is here that I get a first look at the hair that comes down in front of my eyes and I am somewhat shocked to the point of light chuckling to find the color gray in the place of many strands of a mostly red hairdo.

Though I'll never admit to being old, I am 46 years old, and some will argue that in my mission to become a career woman, I was late in my primal and natural mission of having a family and raising children. I gave birth to Zoey when I was 35 years old. Although Zoey is the only child that I've ever raised, her life stories and trials are equivalent to that of ten children her own age. Even though things are better for her than they've been in past years, I would not wish her life on anyone else. I say that she has put me through hell over the years, but that's only because she's been through so much hell herself.

I am jolted from my pain when I hear a buzzer. I assume that it is from the oven, so I quickly get up from the couch and check whatever may be cooking. It is not the oven, which I find out when I realize that the oven or its alarm was not turned on when I first left the kitchen after Nozomi went to visit Doctor Yun. I head back into the living room and find the source of the buzzer.

"And there you have it, ladies and gentlemen," the pokemon contest public address announcer speaks. "After a five minute time limit draw and a decision resting in the hands of the judges based on hit points, victory in the Floaroma Town pokemon contest goes to Hikari of Twinleaf Town! And by virtue of her victory this afternoon, she not only wins her very first contest ribbon, she also wins the much publicized stipulation between her and coordinator Nozomi, meaning that Nozomi must-- she MUST participate in all of her contests and appeals for the first four months of the year 2007 wearing dresses! And if any coordinating fans have seen Nozomi in action, you know that this will certainly be a change of note for this young lady."

It takes a moment to sink in just what this all means. When I take it all in, I can't help but laugh. I turn off the TV because there is no more need for me to see another second. Zoey has lost her stipulation and must now pay for it. I laugh because once again, I know that there was no need for it, and it turned out to be a situation where Zoey made her own bed, and now she must sleep in it.

"She's gonna be so pissed when she finds out." Knowing my daughter, she will show her humility in the presence of an audience, but vent her frustrations, as many as there may be, in privacy. She will scream out in anger, cry very loudly, or throw things, but once she's finished, you know she has let all of her choler out in some form or fashion.

One thing I know she won't do is say 'no' to everything that she has done. That's just not the kind of person Zoey is, and doesn't speak to how she has lived her eventful existence. Any lesser child would have thrown in the towel after the death of their best friend, or a severe and potentially fatal injury, or the death of the only father (figure) that you've ever cared to know. Anyone of these incidences should have broken Zoey, but she's still standing tall and proud.

My laugh is halted by a key turning in the lock of the front door. Zoey has come back from her appointment with Doctor Yun.

"Hey mom. I'm back." Zoey comes to my direction with a neutral expression on her face. Though I can't tell how she is feeling at the moment, she sees that I have an uneasy smile on my face. "Did something happen while I was out, Mom? Is something wrong?" I look right into her face and slowly shake my head. I didn't want to delay any further what happened while she was out.

I refused to beat around the bush with this important issue to my daughter. "Zoey? I'm sorry to say this, but... you lost."

She looks confused, and rightfully so. After all, I was quite vague with what I said. "I... lost? What do you mean I lost? What are you talking about, mom? You aren't making any sense."

I say no words to her. I, along with the live audience at Floaroma Town and however many people were watching at home were just minutes removed from finding out that Hikari had won the contest over Kengo. All I did to explain why Zoey 'lost' was turn on the television. Sure enough, Zoey and I saw Hikari being presented with the Floaroma Town contest ribbon by all the various dignitaries. Taking a chance glance at my daughter, I see that her face resembles a wide open book; her eyes, her mouth, even her nostrils are wide open in what I presume to be a pure stupor. Her arms dropped to her side as she watched her rival reign victorious in Floaroma Town.

Zoey sniffles through her nose for a moment and then slowly wipes the sweat away from her brow. The living room is silent, with the exception of the television, but I can hear my daughter breathing very heavily upon hearing this news. I don't think it has sunk in yet, because she is performing actions that suggest doubt, such as shaking her head, covering her mouth with her hand, and bowing her head in shame. She looks like she could cry at any moment. It would be sad if it wasn't so damn pathetic.

"You lost, Zoey." I punctuate. She exhales two times while her head was still down upon hearing those two words.

"Could I be excused, mom?" she asks quieter than a church mouse.

"Yes, dear." I see Zoey take about one footstep every second and a half or so as she walks to her room. The door to her bedroom is slightly ajar, and she walks to it as if she were on her way to death row for her execution. I am positioned inside of the family room of the house in a spot where I can see her fully open the doorway to her room. Less than three seconds later, she closes the door. The television is still on, and remained on since a few minutes ago when I told Zoey that she lost. I took a minute or so to listen to the interview that she gives to the press after the winner's ceremony. Hikari talked about how she is happy to have won the stipulation and not have her head shaved. She also uses this opportunity to let Zoey know that even though she has won the deal they made, she is not done with Zoey, and she will take this as far as she wants it to go. She puts an exclamation point on her statement saying that...

"SON OF A BITCH!!! DAMN IT!" I couldn't hear exactly what Hikari said, because my daughter was in her nearby room screaming out in anger her many frustrations through the use of obscenities. All of this stress that she was going through in my mind was very unnecessary; as I believe once again that she brought much of it upon her own shoulders. Zoey should have recognized the risk and known that this could have happened. This recitation of screaming and vulgarity lasts about thirty seconds until Nozomi walks once again the same way she did when she entered her room some minutes ago. Her head is down, but she brings it back up once she ceases walking and turns her head off to the side for only a moment. I can't tell if she has been crying or not, but I know for a fact that she is upset. Whether it is at herself for formulating this wager, or for whatever reason, there is no other way to put how she feels right now other than to say she is mad.

I say nothing for fear of her snapping at me in disgust. I wait for her to open her mouth and say something-- anything at all to neutralize the toxic environment. Seeing that Hikari's image is still on the television screen, I reach for the remote and turn it off. Nozomi immediately glances at the box and then towards me.

"Is dinner ready, mom?" she asks. I am granted my wish as my daughter speaks.

"It will be a few minutes, dear. Care to sit down?" I ask feeling her pain and wanting in anyway possible to help her cope. From her lips, I get a nonchalant response of 'Sure' and she sits down on a chair away from the TV screen, even though it is no longer on. Nozomi doesn't even appear to be all there. It's almost as if she got the worst news in the world.

Some minutes pass, and we do indeed sit down for dinner at about 3:15 p.m. Before we stuff ourselves silly, I suggest to Nozomi that like every Thanksgiving before, we say some things that we are thankful for. I tell her that I want to start.

"Well, Zoey. I am thankful that we are able to be here together in the midst of my job transition and your pokemon journey. I suppose that finding out about the wager you made with Hikari was a blessing in disguise because... it brought us together when I didn't think we'd get to share this important moment. This may not seem like much to you now, but when you get older, get married and have a family of your own, you'll really cherish the little things. The ones you had with the family you have now, and the ones you'll have with your family later. That's what I'm thankful for. Zoey?"

It takes a minute of uneasy smiles, turning her glance away from mine and exhale after exhale, but she finally comes around and says her peace. "Mom, I'm thankful just to be here today sharing Thanksgiving dinner with you. And, even with the situation that involved Makoto, I might have... hidden in a shell for a while, but I want you to know that in no way did I... he would have wanted me to go out there and work for my dreams, with or without him, and to an extent, I've accomplished most of them. And I'm very thankful for that. Even when dad died... that was..." My daughter looks like she could break down any second. She is shaking, and I want to hold her, but I don't want to jump the gun and trigger any unneeded emotional strife on what is supposed to be a joyous occasion. "That was a very conflicting time for me. Weeks on end I spent in hospital beds or rehabilitation centers, and knowing that dad would not be coming home from work to visit you ever again because I just had to have him there that night." Zoey then whispers to my shock, "I just had to be a selfish little… bitch."

God almighty. She still blames herself. "Zoey? Sweetheart? If we've been over this once, we've been over this a thousand times; what happened to dad wasn't..."

"Mom?" my daughter bitingly interjects. "Can we not talk about that, please? Can't we just eat?" I don't want to have any arguments and drive Nozomi or myself over the edge, so I say the only thing I can think of saying.

"Okay, dear. We can eat." Those were the last words said for a good while until the food did its job by calming nerves and pleasing palettes. After Nozomi said her 'thank you's' she left to go back to her room to do who knows what. To say the least, this has been an eventful Thanksgiving, and although the day is far from over, I bet Nozomi wishes it was. Maybe a nice long rest will both do us a world of good.

* * *

In retrospect, it all seemed like a blur. Going into the contest, I was reintroduced to Kengo, who was a friend of mine from early childhood. Though he began the day much like he would begin most school days with his playful teasing, it became quite apparent to he and I that today would not be about taking a stroll down memory lane. We both had business to attend to, and we would not let even a good friendship hinder either of our efforts. 

For whatever reasons aside from the obvious one of wanting to win a contest ribbon and getting one step closer to the Grand Festival, I did not know why Kengo came to this contest of all other contests. Ask 99 of 100 people that came to Floaroma Town's contest, and they likewise could not tell you why Kengo was here. But if you asked those same 100 people why Hikari Kamiko was there, I would be willing to bet the farm that just about all of them could tell you why. They knew that I wanted-- no. I needed to win a contest ribbon within the next five weeks, or I would be forced by order of a written contract that Nozomi and I signed at the start of November to have my head completely shaved bald.

To the casual observer, I was at a distinct disadvantage in the finals of the contest, as I had Piplup going up against its next evolutionary stage in the form of Kengo's Prinplup. But Piplup obviously had a ton of heart and a great deal of might to come out of the contest victorious. Although Nozomi has made a spectacle, and some would argue a joke of my coordinating exploits by making this challenge, in a sick and twisted way, I feel I should be thanking her.

If not for her 'words of encouragement' I don't know if I would've won this ribbon when I did, because the challenge forced me, Pipulp, Pachirisu, and Buneary to get up off our collective asses and work for it. And believe you me, this one is earned. I'm now in the interview room giving comments to the media about my recent victory. After about 5-7 minutes of the third degree, one reporter has an ending inquiry.

"Are there any final remarks that you would like to make concerning your first contest victory here this afternoon, Hikari?"

For a second, I ponder this most insightful of inquiries. How could I possibly put into words the hell that this girl has put me through? Though the road was a very rocky one filled with questions, innuendoes, violence and family difficulties, today I was able to find a way-- some way to escape it all, and come out of it the better coordinator, and perhaps most important, a better person.

All of this success came about in spite of the vocal goading Nozomi gave me while laying somewhat incapacitated in a hospital bed. So when you ask how I can put into words my feelings at this moment, I will tell you to bring a tape recorder and several blank tapes, as my thoughts are long and winding, but that the most important point to make concerns the end result. I came out of this fiasco the victor and that's all that matters to me right now. As for when I leave Floaroma Town and as far as future contests are concerned...

"Everyone remembers about four weeks or so ago, I was on the steps of Twinleaf Town's City Hall building. I told the many members of the media that I was more than willing to go as far as needed and an hour more with a person who I considered to be my rival, Nozomi Kobashi. I want everyone here and those watching at home to know that that has not changed. It will not stop until her opinion of me as not simply a coordinator, but as a human being changes for the better."

"To put an exclamation point on my answer, if that means risking people not favoring me because I didn't stand in line and take this verbal berating, then so be it. If I lose friends because of this, again, so be it. That fact is I am quite possibly the most stubborn individual you'll probably ever meet, and once I set my mind to a plan or project, be careful. That's all I have to say. Thank you all and Happy Thanksgiving." I leave the interview room, turning my glance away from the many popping flashbulbs and exit to my attending entourage of traveling companions.

Satoshi is exceedingly proud of me, as is Takeshi. He told me of a similar experience that occurred very early in his training career where he was in the Kanto region and faced the Vermilion gym leader Lieutenant Surge and his Raichu. He, along with his Pikachu were in an academic handicap, much like my Piplup against Kengo's Prinplup, but he was able to prevail when he learned some 'speedy' advice. He is very proud of me, and hopes that if the mere fact that I won a ribbon doesn't humble Nozomi, then the four months of having to wear dresses will.

As I excuse myself from both Takeshi and Satoshi, I think to myself that based on what behavior I've seen and heard from her in public and private moments, Nozomi is most confident and most arrogant when she is in control of situations. But when someone like me steps up and takes control and asserts themselves, she is brought back down to earth. Her attitude can be best described as a string of peaks and valleys. She may be humbled by having to wear dresses, but once that ends, I can't help but ask myself 'then what'?

I've given enough thought to Nozomi to the point that now I am at my preplanned destination-- a pay phone. I have one dollar in change in my pocket, which is enough to make exactly two phone calls. It's just enough for me. Dialing the proper calling codes, I finally hear a ring after one minute or so. After the first ring, I hear a voice.

"Kamiko residence. Ayako speaking." It's mom.

"Mom? It's me, Hikari."

"Hikari! How are you doing? Congratulations!" Mom sounds overjoyed knowing that my most difficult step towards the Grand Festival has been made.

"I'm fine, mom, and thank you for your support these last three weeks." My mother, fully realizing what type of person I am knew that I would not drop this issue. So one day, while Satoshi was at a pokemon center, mom called and gave me some training advice along with an exercise and nutrition regimen for my pokemon. I thanked her for the advice, but I asked her not to tell anyone that I was being given advice. I also asked her to no longer provide me with advice, even though it was greatly appreciated. If I was going to continue on my path, I wanted to do it on my own. She agreed.

"Honey, I'm proud of you. I hope that we don't have to go down this road again."

"Mom? A part of me hopes the same thing, but I'm a realist, mom. If Nozomi is gonna go, she won't go quietly. I have to go, mom. Satoshi is calling me to go to dinner." That was a lie. I actually wanted to call the next person that I intended to call when finding this payphone, but mom couldn't know that.

"Okay, dear. Good luck to you. Again, I'm very proud of you. This is a very big step."

"Thanks mom. I know. Good-bye."

"Bye mom." I hang up the phone and wait a minute as I pull out a black leather change purse and open the zipper on top. Inside is about four or five dollars of loose change and a strip of white paper with some numbers in blue written on both sides. I look around to see if there is anyone nearby that could use this to my disadvantage. I can't let a single soul, especially my mother know that I have this number. I make the phone call and after four or five rings, I get a response.

"Hello?" I'm surprised to hear the voice of a female speak. I deeply exhale and speak to this mystery woman.

"I'm sorry. Is Huro Akiyama available?"

"May I ask who is calling, please?" I really don't want to tell anyone other than Akiyama that I am calling his house, but if I want to talk to him, I must let this stranger know exactly who I am.

"Tell him that... Dawn Kamiko is calling."

"Okay. One second, Dawn." After about ten seconds, I hear someone inhale into the receiver.

"Hikari?" the man on the other end of the line says. "Dad?" I ask. "How are you doing, dad?" For those that didn't already know, I am talking with Huro Akiyama; my 27-year-old estranged father. If my mother knew that I was talking to him, I hesitate to imagine what she would do to not only him, but to me. My father has explained many of the details to me ever since I accidentally stumbled upon his number one day about three years ago.

He and mom had went through a very nasty divorce, and because dad was significantly younger than mom and had much less money or resources to provide for me, she was granted by the courts full custody of me, and my father wasn't even allowed to have visits, chaperoned or not.

Dad claims that mom was able to have her lawyers paint a picture of a much older woman being seduced by the boyish charms of a younger man. A lot of it I initially found hard to believe, but I accepted it, because my mother is quite well off, and she hates my father with a passion, and is not afraid to show it. I wanted to ask him many times what occurred between the two of them to cause this great dissension, but I didn't want to pry.

I was just happy that I was able to secure this contact with him. My mother has always squashed any conversation that had to do with when dad was gonna come back home and see me. The Christmases, New Year's and birthdays came and went, and dad never was there, but that was not by choice. It didn't matter to me, though, because just hearing his voice, and him knowing that I was okay and knowing that he was okay was enough for me.

"Who was that lady, dad?" I was curious, but not hanging by a thread wanting to know who she was. I was just curious.

"That... that was my girlfriend of about three months. Her name is Paisley." I couldn't judge Paisley on a 15 second phone conversation that I had in an attempt to speak to my father, so I simply tell dad "S'no problem." I knew that despite the problems between him and mom, whatever they may have been, dad still has to live his life.

"Really? That's alright with you... Dawnie?" God! I hate that nickname. Dad used to tease me so much with his exaggeration on my given nickname of Dawn. He gave it to me because oddly enough, I was born right at the crack of dawn. "Daddy! You know I don't like that! Seriously, will I ever grow up in your eyes?"

"There's my girl." He laughs the most infectious laugh you will ever hear in your life. "And you'll always be my Baby Dawn to me, Hikari. Any reason in particular why you called?"

"Well, to say hello, and to tell you... I won my first contest ribbon!" I was quite excited to tell him the news. Dad knew everything that had happened to me with Nozomi, and he was a very good listener as far as me needing someone to let out all of my thoughts and frustrations without the judging, constant questions and dirty looks that my mother is famous for.

"Woah! You did?" "Uh huh." I said with vigor.

"Great job, Dawnie. I knew you could do it! Show that Kobashi punk who's boss, girl! No one gets away with badmouthing my daughter!" My dad. He's always been a stickler for good competition. Instead of criticizing me for going out and having a rivalry with Nozomi like my mother did, he gave me sound and sage advice.

Not just advice involving pokemon, but advice on how to deal with people like Nozomi not just in pokemon coordinating, but in life as well. Even though all I have of him are some pictures that my mother does not know about and this phone number, he's still a father to me, as much as I know that that would make my mother angrier than Cain. Because of the legal situation that my father is in, he legally cannot talk to me or see me until I turn 16.

He says that the only way that this can be circumvented so that the lines of communication are not cut, is for me to call him, but only on payphones or videophones when no one else is present. I promised him that, because if I did not and he was to get caught, or if someone could provide evidence that I was speaking to him, he would go to jail. He also said, 'unfortunately, visits to see me are out of the question.

'Law enforcement is in my area much of the time, and they can find me guilty of violation of a legal court order if they ever knew I was within 25 meters of you, or talking to you right now.' I agreed, because even though seeing dad is something that I brim in anticipation of doing, hearing his voice brought me the most comfort of all. More than I can say for my mother, who has wanted me to favor her more and not my father, the same person from which one of my most glaring traits comes from; my stubbornness. And that's more or less the reason why I am in a feud with the redhead.

My dad and I talk for about five more minutes about everything from his new girlfriend to my next contest until I hang up and go back to Satoshi and Takeshi as we continue on our tandem journeys.

* * *

January 4, 2007 

The telecast to the Veilstone City pokemon contest is now on. The pokemon contest intro rolls, and does a wave effect, ending with a panoramic view of the house for this first contest in the year 2007 for Veilstone City. The viewers at home can see that the contest house is completely full, with standing room only, as everyone there has arrived for two reasons; reason number one is to see the top coordinators in the Sinnoh region battle it out for supremacy and the Veilstone City contest ribbon, and reason number two... well, the color commentary team will let you know of that.

"Ladies and gentlemen, to get an idea of the atmosphere that's surrounding this pokemon contest, you will have to go all the way back to that fateful day on Thursday October 19, 2006, when renegade rookie coordinator Nozomi Kobashi made very deep and disparaging remarks concerning Hikari Kamiko on worldwide airwaves. Sometime between then and the official statement given by Miss Kamiko just five days later, the two girls made a wager of sorts. Nozomi challenged Hikari to win her very first contest ribbon before the end of 2006. If Hikari failed to win the ribbon, she would be forced to have her head shaved in public. If Hikari won the contest ribbon, Nozomi agreed to wear dresses to all of her contests for the next four months."

"Folks it was on Thanksgiving day that the world and Nozomi were shocked to learn that Hikari defeated an old friend named Kengo to win the Floaroma Town contest ribbon, and by virtue of that win, Nozomi loses her own challenge, and the first of many big payoffs to that challenge begins tonight here in prime time, as both Hikari and Nozomi are booked to compete here in tonight's pokemon contest."

* * *

"You're bullshitting me, right?" 

I looked at Hikari as if she had told me that I have AIDS. She held up the dress that I was to wear for tonight's pokemon contest by order of a written contractual agreement. I already know that it fits, because she hired someone to get my measurements prior to me booking myself to appear at Veilstone City. The problem I have with it, which is causing me to question Hikari's sanity is that this dress is made with my least favorite color; yellow. What's worse is that it is a very light pastel yellow and just like Hikari told me, it is loaded with bright white frills on every edge and trimmed section of the attire. She must have been a sadist in a past life. It's the kind of dress that my mother fought long and hard for me to wear when I was younger to fall in line with the idea and image of being 'lady like'.

"No I'm not" she says as a retort. "And I'd suggest you quit dilly dallying around and get this on. After all, there are a lot of people out there just waiting to see you." She ends her sentence in a sing-songy matter and it causes me to cringe.

"And if I don't go out there and wear this... large banana peel that you call a dress, what happens then, huh?" She goes up to me and whispers in my ear, saying "If you don't wear this, I'll sue your ass. Not only do we have a handshake agreement, we have a legal document that says the same. So what's it gonna be, hoyden?"

Unlike my mother, there is no way out of this without me having to resort to legal action. A path I just don't wanna take right now. I look Hikari right in the eyes. In some respects, she has gotten me where it hurts, but I am nowhere near a broken individual because of one loss. Hikari my have won this battle, but we still have a long war left to be fought.

"Get out." I tell her. "Huh? What do you mean?" she asked.

I scoff when she doesn't understand what I'm trying to tell her. To drive my point home, I point to the exit door of the dressing room. "Get out of the dressing room so that I can change! Jesus! What are you, some kind of pervert?" This was yet another attempt by me to draw Hikari's ire and get her angry, as if I haven't already succeeded in doing that in the past. What did you expect? I'm persistent.

She holds her hands and arms high into the air in what I presume is a sign of defense. "Quit your bitching, Nozomi. I'll leave." She does just that after about five seconds. I am now left alone to ponder the object of scorn that hangs directly in front of me. I decide that it is better not to face this plight on my own. After all, misery loves company, and I'm pretty sick and damn miserable having to do something I just don't wanna do.

"Glameow" I command, "Curtain!" and in a flash of light, my most reliable of pokemon comes out, saying 'nya', or meow, and licking her left paw. "Always a primadonna, Glameow." I tell her with a cunning smile. She purrs in response to my sarcasm. She is still tending to her paw like she was a French manicurist.

"Will you leave your appendage alone for a second and take a look at this monstrosity?" I point Glameow to the dress and as soon as she gets a very good look at it, she hisses something awful and cries out with a screech that could wake bears in hibernation. I tend to agree with her in this case. "Well, Glamie," which is my short form for Glameow, "believe it or not, I'm going to wear this to tonight's contest. I didn't want you, Misdreavus or the others to worry about me or be surprised when you came out and saw me in... That." To this, Glameow brings her head down, covers her eyes with her recently cleaned left paw, shakes her head, and screeches a loud 'meow'. I see this.

"Hey, hey, hey!" I scold. "Don't rub it in!" almost as if she could understand me word for word, Glameow takes her right paw and points it downward. Like all other domestic cats, she does not have opposable thumbs, but right now, I suppose that she is giving this dress a 'paws down'.

"Look, Glamie. It's not by choice." I say, in an attempt to defend myself. "I... let's just say that I underestimated our competition and my mouth ended up getting me in this trouble. But I promise you and my whole team this, Glamie. We set a goal together that we would work harder than any other coordinator/pokemon combination to become the best in all the world and I assure you that in the coming months, we will not be wavering from our objective. I may have to wear outfits like these for the next..." I whisper 'four months' as it has still not sunk in that the results went in this direction. "But we'll still work to be the best. You and I. How's that sound?" Glameow then jumps into my arms, and gently digs her head into my chest. I love my Glameow, and this time we spend together is time I value over most other things.

"Let's get this over with. Glamie? Return." I put Glameow back into her pokeball and proceed to begin changing into the flower girl dress. I begin by removing my dark brown boots and purple socks. I turn away for a moment, as I see the multiple surgical incision marks on my right foot and ankle, due to surgeries required to repair my leg three years ago. I will have these scars for the rest of my life, and they are a reminder of what stupidity, carelessness and arrogance can cost someone, and it doesn't just have to do with the leg. I swear I'll never go out of my way to impress anyone ever again. That's how I got these marks.

My next step to shedding down to my skin involved taking off my orange vest. My clothing was becoming very piled up, so I opened one of the lockers available and placed my boots, socks, and vest into the locker. The next step was removing a treasured necklace that I've had ever since my eighth birthday. It was a gift from my mother, Hitomi. It is actually a locket that holds pictures of two people I care for greatly. One picture has my childhood friend Makoto and another picture has my father, Keiichi. My mother said that if you ever feel the need to see them as you want to remember them, then open the locket. I hang the priceless keepsake on one of the locker hooks and continue with undressing.

After about a minute or two, I am standing alone in this private locker room not naked as the day I was born, but with the undergarments I came with covering the so-called private areas. I have on all black in a sports bra, and boxer briefs, which are also black. Traveling alone through forests, cities, and towns throughout the Sinnoh region, I don't often get the opportunity to shower, much less get a look at myself in the mirror.

Seeing myself for the first time in many weeks, I start to see exactly what Doctor Yun talked about on our Thanksgiving Day appointment and what mom has been saying since just before I started my journey nine months ago. My body is going through some serious changes, and they're happening at a near rapid fire rate. My body is no longer comparable to a Popsicle stick, unless of course it is a Popsicle stick with curves.

Because that is what I see when I look at the full body mirror in front of me are curves that I didn't care to notice the last time I was in front of a mirror. My figure appears to be forming more of an hourglass shape, and more curves become prevalent as I further scan my body. I can no longer run my hand from my upper chest down to my stomach without encountering a bump in the road. That curve is met head on as I run my hand through my breasts. They are still small, but they are noticeably larger than the last time I took a long glance in a shower some time ago.

Ending my narcissistic self-rant, I turn my attention to the dress hung up in the locker room. Truth be told, it is not a bad looking dress. I just called it a banana peel to piss Hikari off. I take off the clear plastic that holds the outfit, and then proceed to remove the outfit from its hanger. In one swift motion, I bring the dress up over my head and bring it down to my waist. The dress comes down to my lower ankles, which I count as fortunate, as nobody will be able to see my scars and ask questions.

Making final adjustments for the waist of the yellow garment, I turn back to the direction of the mirror with my eyes closed. I do not believe that I would be ready for the immediate shock of seeing myself in something that I haven't worn since I was five years old. Now it is an exercise in mental preparation as I slowly open my eyes and take a look at myself in the mirror before going out and competing. I completely see myself.

Whoever is wearing this dress, it is not me. The person wearing this dress is not comfortable, and looks downright gawky. Maybe I wasn't that far off in comparing this dress to a banana. The white frills of lace resemble either vanilla ice cream or whipped cream, my hair looks like a very large strawberry, and just out of curiosity of the way I looked so far, I put on my spare pair of shoes, which are chocolate colored penny loafers, and I can't help but laugh, but I needed it.

What is staring back at me appears to be a four foot, ten inch tall, 90 pound banana split. Clearly, my hair does not go with this dress, but I have no choice, as Hikari has specifically picked every dress that I am to wear the next four months. I think that a better use of these dresses, because I will obviously never wear them again, would be to publicly burn each and every one.

"Hmmmm. I wonder..." The more I consider that my objective is to make the rivalry between me and Hikari as heated as possible, I start to ponder what would be a way to make Hikari very mad and throw her many dresses into the mix.

My thoughts are broken when I hear an impatient knock on the dressing room door. "Are you alive in there, or what Nozomi?" The equally impatient voice of Hikari yells out from the other end of the dressing room. I respond in kind by saying that the dress is on, and I'm ready. She opens the dressing room door, and comes in, not saying hello or giving any sort of greeting for that matter.

She's ogling at me as if I were a miniature Schnauzer in a 'Best in Show' competition, viewing every single square inch of material and every area of my body as a means of finding anything that might be out of place. Here's to hoping that Hikari is nowhere near as staunch a critic of neatness as my father was.

Hikari takes a look at my legs, and as soon as she saw my feet in the penny loafers, she went ballistic.

"Oh my God! What the hell are you doing with those things on your feet?" She appears to be insulted by my penny loafers. So much so that she screamed in my face. She is now proceeding to take off my loafers. "Are you just trying to be a fucking jackass about this whole situation? Remember this; I won, you lost, Nozomi, and that means that you play by MY rules, which means you wear my whole outfit that I had planned for you, no questions asked."

I'm confused. I thought I was already wearing the whole outfit, and all of a sudden, she tells me 'But wait! There's more'? "Hang on a second. One, you've got a problem with my penny loafers, then that's fine, but there's no reason for you to make a scene, and two; there's more to this outfit? I thought I was only subject to a dress!"

"Of course there's more to the outfit. Actually, I should be thanking you, Nozomi, because had I not left the dressing room, I wouldn't have met up with Satoshi in order to find the finishing touch to your dress." Hikari proceeds to pull out of a plastic bag a pair of yellow and white dress shoes. I cringe, thinking 'I've got to put these things on as well'? "And before you ask, yes Nozomi, these are your size as well. Put them on now, so that I can see if you look presentable for tonight. You're not only representing yourself, you're representing me here tonight."

I shake my head at her dressing lecture. I then snatch the shoes from her hands while saying 'Give me those'. I put the shoes on, which have no laces and are made of some sort of faux leather. They sort of resemble closed-toed croc-styled shoes, and much like the dress, they are very good looking. Hikari, say what you want about her, has very good taste in clothing. After getting the right shoe on, I turn to Hikari and present myself to her as if I were a young supermodel. Initially, I remain quiet in her glance until I notice her bending with her knees down to my feet to examine my appearance. Catching this movement, I twirl myself around as if I were a ballerina. This is so she can't get a good look at my legs with the shoes presently attached.

"Stop doing that, Nozomi" she says like an aggravated schoolteacher. She tells me to stop multiple times.

I ask her in a very campy and haughty voice "Does my appearance make me look presentable to you, mommy dearest?" This teasing of sorts apparently warranted Hikari to stick her foot out near my rotating feet and cause me to fall flat on my face onto a concrete floor. The problem with this is that I landed on my nose, which was broken nearly three months ago by Hikari. It's still quite tender, and the fall was a painful one.

"OWWWW!" I wince in pain. I put my hands to my face and can feel a slight trickle of a warm, sticky substance on my nose and above my upper lip. I'm bleeding. How profusely? I've got to check the mirror. Hikari is standing over me at this time. "That's what you get for being a damn showoff, Nozomi. I clearly and specifically told you to stop doing that three times, and you failed to take my advice and, well... stop. And for your shortcomings as far as not being able to listen to instruction and do what I say the first time I say it, that's exactly what you deserve."

"Crap! I think I might have broken my nose again!" Is the only response I give to her 'following instructions' lecture. I don't turn my head up towards her direction, but instead attempt to take a quick glance at the mirror and give myself a prognosis of my current situation. There is a clear cut on the bridge of my nose, which is the same area that felt the brunt of the pain the first time that I broke my nose.

"Okay." Hikari said with some concern in her voice. I still did not look up to see her and fully confirm this fear. "There's a first aid kit in this locker room somewhere." she says, as she scans the walls of the locker room. "There it is." She goes over to the other side of this private locker room and pulls from the wall a large first aid kit from off a wall nearby a unisex restroom.

Hikari comes back to me with the kit in her left arm. She reaches for my chin to get a look at my face. I'm scared to wonder what will happen when she sees the mess that my face is right now. I then take a moment and ponder what I just thought to myself. In the past, I could have cared less how anyone, including my mother and father, thought about the way that I looked. But when my rival is about to catch me in a very embarrassing and humbling position like I am right now, I start to become self-conscious about my bloody face. In the presence of anybody else, I would just let them tend to my face, but something doesn't want me to let Hikari see me as weak as I am right now. I don't get it.

"All right." She says when she sees that I refuse to pick my face up and see her. "If you will cooperate with me and pick your chin up, I'll fix your-- Holy shit!" When I pick up my face to see her, I looked down to see that the blood was flowing like a waterfall down to the yellow dress. Upon me hearing her interjection, she immediately takes a combination of cotton balls and gauze and places it on the bridge of my nose to halt the overflow of life liquid.

"You got blood all over this dress! Goddamn it! Hold still!" Hikari exclaimed. I was downright flabbergasted and mad at her remark. It wasn't my health and safety that she was concerned with at all. It was about making sure that I didn't have any screw-ups as far as attire and appearance were concerned. Unfortunately for me (and I suppose her) that was taken out of my hands, as I showed off in front of Hikari and she felt it necessary to put me back in my place.

To show her just how disgusted I am with her conduct, I slap the arm away that was holding the cotton balls and gauze to my nose. I quickly pick up the cotton and place it back on the bridge of my nose, applying pressure. "What the hell, Hikari? You put more care into this dress than you did an actual human being. I'll admit, I haven't really shown you much in the way of care or concern for my own personal reasons, but I still..." I grit my teeth and stop myself, because I don't want to appear weak in front of her and blow my cover due to my anger with Hikari right now. "You know what? Just forget it. I've got to get ready for appeals..."

"Wait a minute!" Hikari shouts, as she grabs me by the near arm before I could walk a determinable distance to the locker room door. "You can't go out there looking like this!"

"Attention, please." It's the Public Address announcer's booming voice that I hear. "Attention to all coordinators and guests of the Veilstone City pokemon contest. Please be advised that initial appeals will begin in approximately 15 minutes. Again, all initial appeals of authorized and present coordinators will begin in 15 minutes. If guests have not yet been seated, we ask that you please take your seats at this time. We also ask all coordinators to begin forming a line at the arena entrance at this time. Thank you."

I smile at Hikari's shocked face. "It seems like I have no choice. If I don't get ready and stand in line for the introductions, I don't go out there for the appeal and I don't even get a chance to be embarrassed standing in front of TV land, bloody yellow dress or not." Upon saying this, I swear that I saw Hikari mouth 'son of a bitch'. "It's your own damn fault. If you hadn't tripped me up, we wouldn't be faced with the debacle were in right now."

"Quiet." Hikari shoots at me. "We have to think of something and quick." I grab her by the shoulders.

"There is no time! I'm sorry, Hikari, but I just have to go out there looking like this. Believe you me, I am the last person that would have wanted something like this to happen, but it's happened! And besides, you've got what you want! I'll be more embarrassed than anyone because I look like I fought a losing battle in a butcher shop in a young girl's party dress. Seriously, how embarrassing can you possibly get, Hikari?"

Hikari gives me a very hard sigh and throws her hands up in the air. "You're right. There is no time. You'll have to go out there in a bloody dress and do an appeal, and possibly some matches." Hikari turns away from me for just a moment to take a few deep breaths and then turns back towards me and brings out her right hand.

"Good luck, 'cause the direction you're going right now, you're gonna need a ton of it to have any fortune here tonight." I look at her hand, and then I look at her in disgust.

"Save it. I don't want or need your goddamn charity." And then I walk away, saying nothing else.

"Nozomi." I hear Hikari grunt. I turn back around, and I see her with her middle finger high in the air directed towards me. I turn away from her and leave the dressing room, again not saying anything else. In my mind a part of me was doing a touchdown celebration because she hates me so much and has little regard for me on a personal or professional level at this point. Another part of me, however, was deeply troubled by the mere fact that someone that I truly cared for would have these feelings for me. I shudder to think what would happen if I really went beyond appropriateness and caused her to snap once more. I, unfortunately, can't worry about that right now, as I have a pokemon contest to compete in.

Going to the back of the line which leads to the arena entrance, about 15 or so coordinators in front of me, and I could hear a pin drop at the point in which I entered the line. I can't tell whether it is the dress I'm wearing, or the fact that my blood stains on the frock make the entire scenario about ten times more absurd than it already is. It's depressing to say the least, as I believe that I've done little to deserve this spiteful scorn.

Before I feel get the urge to hurt a few people prior to the contests beginning, the sound of trumpets fills the contest house. The public address announcer speaks once again.

"Ladies and gentlemen. The city fathers of Veilstone City, along with the promoters of this contest in the beautiful Sinnoh region gladly welcome you to the first Veilstone City pokemon contest of 2007, presented to you live and in primetime!" This announcement warrants a loud cheer from the crowd that could be heard from the entrance tunnel just as loudly.

"And at this time, ladies and gentlemen" continues the announcer Marion Meridian. "it gives me a great deal of pleasure to welcome one of our own back home to officially introduce the coordinators in this contest, he is a skilled three year veteran of pokemon training, please welcome Veilstone's own, Shinji!"

Though hard to pinpoint him, I finally find who associates refer to as Shinji, and those who can get close to him in some way, shape or form refer to as Paul. He doesn't appear to be to happy to be here, but I suppose Veilstone City wanted to kickoff the New Year the right way by having Paul appear before a ruckus hometown crowd. Paul is a tough nut to crack, but I met him for the first time back in July, while he was out training, and I was earning badges in gym battles. I challenged him to a battle that was refereed by a local traveler.

It was a two-on-two affair that went over 15 minutes, but I was able to defeat Paul's Elekid with my Misdreavus to come out the victor. He said that I battled superbly and he had my respect, but thought it was a waste of all my talents to focus simply on coordinating. I wasn't insulted by this, because as intense a trainer as Paul is, just about everything he does must revolve around his craft. Much like any Grand Festival champions must focus solely on their craft, and what they excel in.

Paul introduces the line of coordinators to center stage, as a line of 24 coordinators walks towards the ring. I am about 16th in line, and once I come out, there is a barrage of flashbulbs that blind me, as the media gets their fill of 'Dressed down Nozomi'. I'm waiting for someone to tell me one of three things; 1) This is a dream, 2) I'm being punk'd, or 3) Nozomi Kobashi, smile, because you're on 'Candid Camera'. Unfortunately, none of these things occur, before us coordinators form a line around the contest ring, and when I pinched myself, I don't wake up from any deep slumber.

After a few minutes preparing portions of the stage, appeals finally begin. During this time, Hikari's traveling partner Satoshi entered the waiting room, and gave me a bottle of cold club soda to use, not saying much at all. He said 'Hikari felt bad about the whole situation and wanted you to look at least somewhat presentable'. I kindly thanked him and while cleaning away the blood on the dress, I awaited my number to be called.

The most successful of coordinators would go last, while the least successful go first in appeals. So out of about 25 coordinators who came to this contest, I will go through my appeal 23rd of 25 trainers. This gives me time to consider once again what to do with all of these dresses I have to wear, and I come to only one true conclusion as to how to use them and become even more hated by doing so. I will auction the dresses off, and give all the proceeds to charity. I can do this, because Hikari told me that they are mine to keep and do whatever I want with.

"Next up ladies and gentlemen to do her appeal is coordinator number 23. From Snowpoint City, please give it up for Nozomi Kobashi!" To that introduction from the P.A. announcer, I get a chorus of boos. When I come out to the stage for the second time, it appears that the crowd's reaction is magnified, and the booing became significantly louder and more direct. After about ten seconds of being out on stage, I get chants from the people of 'Zoey Sucks!'

I've gotten chants like this before. I remember that the reason people probably know my nickname is because it is in the official rookie guide and the Veilstone City pokemon contest program. All I can do in response to the chant is tell myself this is exactly what I wanted; for me to play the bad guy agitator and for Hikari to become the hero who will shut this loudmouth up in spite of it all. This will be best for both of us in the long run.

As a response to the booing, I smile back to them, as a means of possibly killing the crowd with my own kindness. After nearly a minute of nonstop booing, the announcer asks the crowd to be silent for the appeal, and wouldn't you know it? Just a few seconds later, you could hear the tip of a pin drop in the house. The crowd may have little to no respect for me, but they have nothing but respect for the concept of sportsmanship.

I have two minutes to do my appeal, and I've already decided to use Glameow. Grabbing a pokeball, I command Glameow to 'curtain' so we can begin. A red flash of light appears, but there is a problem. A pokemon comes out of the ball, but it is not Glameow, it's Misdreavus, and when she looks at me, she appeared to be confused.

'Shit.' I think to myself. I pulled out the wrong pokeball, and Misdreavus is confused, because she didn't get a chance to see me in the dress before the contest. Misdreavus knows that I would normally have my white tuxedo and cape with me, or I would be in my everyday attire. I would not have a yellow and white party dress stained in blood in any other circumstance.

Misdreavus is wandering aimlessly now, loudly screeching and attacking without merit other than the fact that I believe that she does not see her trainer, when I'm right here.

I have to take control of this situation, and quickly. The only problem is that I can't call Misdreavus back into her pokeball, because if I do, my appeal ends immediately. By law, I can only call out one pokemon, so Misdreavus is just gonna have to do for now. "Misdreavus, settle down! It's me, Nozomi!" That appears to have no affect on my psychic pokemon as she in continuing to attack anything and anyone that moves. She is so out of control that the judges in attendance have left their seats and run for cover.

"Misdreavus, please calm down!" I say very slowly. "Calm down, Misdreavus!"

"Zoey!" Someone in the crowd screams. I scan the crowd trying to find the source of the voice. "If you can't control your pokemon, we're not even gonna have a contest, 'cause Misdreavus will destroy everything in a mood of panic!" Once again, I quickly scan the premises. Then I finally find the source of the voice. It is Hikari, who is flailing her arms violently in an attempt to get my attention. For a moment, I'm surprised that she knew my nickname, but she must've read the program like everyone else.

It is at this point, I realize that I am beat. There is no way I could control Misdreavus in enough time and salvage an appeal to get me into the elimination rounds. I bring my head down in a form of shame. I could have avoided this, but my carelessness cost me in this instance.

"Misdreavus? Return." I call Misdreavus back into her pokeball, and go down to one knee. It sucks. This is the first time in my nine month career that I won't even get past the appeals round, and the fault rests entirely on my shoulders for this. Then again, I can't be entirely mad at myself for what was a very reasonable mistake.

I have pride in myself and my abilities, and just seconds after going down to one knee, I came right back up and smiled to the attending crowd, as I leave. I get no reaction as I leave, because the crowd is still in shock due to Misdreavus's actions a minute or so ago. Once I am sure that I am away from the view of the crowd, the frustration of what occurred just took me over, and I slam the brick wall nearest to me with my right arm.

"Fuck!" I yell out, more so to myself than anyone else. In the one chance I've had in the last few months to try and test my rival, I stumble out of the blocks. There will be no celebration for me tonight. Instead, I will be relegated to helping one of my peers celebrate their victory. Maybe no one will notice if I just head to the locker room, get my clothes, change and then get the hell out of here and try to forget this contest ever even occurred.

"Yeah. That's it." I silently speak. Why should I have to subject myself to this exercise if I am not really in a celebrating mood? So I make a quick turn to the locker room, and get myself ready to leave this contest and Veilstone City.

"Excuse me, Nozomi? Could you spare a couple of minutes?" I turn around, and I see him. It's a reporter who wants me to 'spare a couple of minutes'. The name of the reporter really doesn't matter, because ever since October, they have come out of the woodwork to get a word with me. I tell him that I've got a few minutes, and he starts firing away with questions.

"Is there any reason at all for what happened here tonight during your appeal? That obviously could not have been planned out in advance?"

"Well..." I begin in an almost bored tone. "You're right. There is absolutely no excuse I have for you and whoever may read or hear this as to why my appeal was botched, other than the fact that... I had a lot on my mind, and I just pulled out the wrong pokeball. Glameow was supposed to be the pokemon I was to use in this appeal, and then I would use my Flareon for the battle portion, but things obviously didn't turn out that way tonight."

"How does it feel to be ousted from the contest appeal for the first time?" I give somewhat of a weak smile and tell the reporter that 'I'm pissed' and left it at that.

"Care to elaborate on that in any way?" the reporter asks. I decide to just let it all out and leave no stones unturned about my feelings. "Well, I feel as if there were a lot of people that were banking on me to be in the finals of this contest. There were also many other people that wanted me to compete against Hikari in the finals tonight for obvious reasons, and I'm very sorry that I couldn't give the fans of this great sport what they wanted, and it appears that nothing tonight will be resolved until me and Hikari meet once again. If not... in a contest, then perhaps the GFCA will put this battle on pay-per-view in the next few months, because the GFCA claims that they are about the fans. Well, this is the match that all the fans are on the edge of their seats wanting to see. I say without a doubt, give the people what they want."

"All right. Any final remarks you'd like to make?" This is what should get me even more hatred from not just the fans, but fellow coordinators, as well.

"Yes. I have two remarks, actually. One is that I'm leaving this contest right after this interview, because quite frankly, I could care less who the winner is, and two; I'd like to announce to everyone that I will be auctioning off these dresses that I have to wear in contests in the near future, so you can have the dress that Nozomi wore to the Veilstone contest and... I royally screwed up in. And the proceeds will go to a charity to be named in the future. Thank you." And with that, I leave the reporter and his cameraperson and head to the locker room, no questions asked. I know that this interview, albeit short, served its purpose, and made a statement of poor sportsmanship, that will be the model for my antagonist demeanor that I hope to get across to the many people that will come to see contest that either Hikari or myself will be a part of.

When I think about it some more, there is value in giving people exactly what they want. If they want to boo me, why stop them? If they want to cheer for Hikari, or any other opponents that I may face, why stop them? Why try to lie to everyone about how pokemon coordinating is a great utopia of friendship, caring and trust where everyone gets along and everyone is friends with everyone else? Why not celebrate humanity, and the fact that people do cry when they lose, and are not humble in victory all of the time? I wasn't. I might have tried to hold it together, but I really wanted to break down, and that's not really a bad thing.

I just hope someone or something can clue in the heads of the GFCA into this fact of life.

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A/N: After this chapter, there is obviously chapter seven, and that marks the end of the first arc of 'Sharing'. 

The 'AIDS' joke (even though the disease it's no laughing matter) comes from the show 'Late Night With Conan O'Brien', where he had a segment where he'd show brief clips of the TV show 'Walker, Texas Ranger'. A young Haley Joel Osment said the line 'Walker told me I have AIDS', and in the context of how it was shown, it was funny because it was so random. That's where the joke came from.

Not much to say here other than to leave your constructive criticism as always and check this author's page for updates on this and other stories.


	7. A Lesson in Economics

Sharing 

While Hitomi ponders the more poignant traits of her daughter and everything that Nozomi told her, Hikari goes to work in Floaroma town, defeating Kengo in that contest while Nozomi was on a doctor's visit. This was the contest that Nozomi was planning to attend and compete in, but her mother called her before she could travel there. Hitomi sees this only scant minutes after Nozomi comes home. Hitomi tells her the bad news, and Nozomi was inconsolable, even up to dinner. Hikari tells her mother the good news, and she also tells her estranged father Huro Akiyama, who she has not seen in four years, and no, Ayako has absolutely no idea that this is going on.

Nozomi comes to Veilstone City and the very first contest where she has to wear a dress. Everything imaginable goes wrong, as Nozomi bloodies her nose and the dress. Then she picks up Misdreavus when she meant to use Glameow for her appeal. The wrong pokemon came out and did not recognize her trainer in a yellow and white dress, causing her to attack aimlessly, forcing Nozomi to recall Misdreavus before time ran out, thus she automatically forfeited the contest. She leaves the contest prior to finding out who won, and announces that she will auction off every dress, with the proceeds going to charity.

NOTE: This chapter will begin with a journal entry from Nozomi, and then go into a third person narrative, ending with another Nozomi journal entry. This chapter marks the end of the first arc of 'Sharing'. The story will go on brief hiatus of about 2-3 months, and then come back for the second arc. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank all of my readers for their support in what I expected would be a very long project.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Pokemon, a creation of one Satoshi Tajiri, and is produced domestically (in the United States) by Pokemon USA/TAJ/The Pokemon Company, and internationally by Shogakukan and OLM. I personally own nothing and make nothing by writing this. Please do not flame.

(Chapter 7- A Lesson in Economics)

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April 7, 2007 

For Those Who Seek to Find Humor in Everyday,

The last three months or so have been more interesting than I would have ever originally perceived. The first time I actually put the dress on back at Veilstone city, I could not have fathomed the type of response that I would receieve from all the fans of pokemon coordinating. It wasn't so much the laughter that I got from people when I entered the arenas, because there was no laughter from anybody of merit. I could tell that things were different when I would go into contest houses and hear chants of 'Zoey Sucks' not by a few scant hecklers, but by just about everyone there in the arena that day, young people and older people alike.

This trend was not an uncommon occurrence either, as I would go from contests far and wide, sanctioned and unsanctioned, and hear the same thing; a chorus of boos, and chants of 'Zoey Sucks'. After a while, I couldn't help but laugh at the fact that all of this-- all of this was my own doing. I had actually gotten thousands of people all across the Sinnoh region and beyond to hate my guts, and it wasn't hard at all. Unless you call making one specific enemy and suffering a mild concussion along with drawing the ire of my mother 'hard', then in my mind it wasn't hard at all.

Looking at the many crowds that have come to my contests ever since my October comments on Hikari, I've noticed that younger people have entered and filled the stands with greater frequency than in past contests. I also seem to have attracted that very lucrative 18-34 year old male demographic that makes up the majority of fans of other arenas of competition, such as the Ultimate Fighting Championship. But this was not something that the Grand Festival's board members could have possibly concocted in a meeting and come to the conclusion to go along with in a million years. They are so stuck in their ways that they wouldn't even know how to say to both Hikari and I 'make everything look as real as possible'.

What they would never understand if I were to tell people I can't trust is that the purpose for this entire rivalry is a complicated one. I had originally planned many years ago to share the experience of a pokemon journey with Makoto before his death. After his death, I could not think of actually traveling with anyone else and going on a journey out of respect to my best friend, so I went alone one year ago in March of 2006.

Three months later, I met Hikari and decided on my own that it would be best if we could share some part of our journey together that didn't necessarily involve traveling together. Many things came to mind, but the one way I could see us sharing the experience that will be our careers was to be placed side by side in this planned rivalry. If someone remembers one of us, then by default, I wanted them to remember the other one.

Anyway, back to the issue of wearing the dresses in contests; I may have been reluctant at first, but I tried to look on the bright side of this ordeal as often as I could. In all, I have went to about six different contests so far, and have worn six different dresses. The first contest at Veilstone was an unmitigated disaster, with the blood stains and the twice broken nose, combined with the fact that I wasn't even able to make it out of the appeals round. That's all I'm willing to say, because it was just not one of my best days.

In the next contests, I decided to put my own spin on certain particulars of the dresses that Hikari provided me in advance, especially in those contests where she was not in attendance, by adding onto the dress. For instance, at the exhibition contest in Pastoria City, I wore a black dress with white trim, but I also wore a monocole and a black top hat, and walked to the ring with a walking stick. Those items are actually a part of another one of my contest outfits, where I mimic the 'Batman' character The Penguin, with some modern day modifications.

Another twist that I have put into these dresses, is when Hikari had ready for me a purple and gold dress to wear in Eterna City, I quickly went over to a nearby costume shop and wore an ornate crown with fake jewels and a purple robe with gold trim to complete that ensemble.

This list of changes and modifications I made to the numerous outfits are endless, but the only times that I did not make a change or an addition to the outfit was whenever Hikari was in a contest with me. I found out after a while that upon finding out about these changes I made, she was by no means happy with the liberties I took with the outfits. Oh well.

Her agreement should have been far less ambiguous than it was. We signed a written contract in early November, to be absolutely sure that nobody would back out of their stipulation. My end, should I have lost (which I did) was to wear dresses at contests for the first sixteen weeks of the year. That's it.

The contract said absolutely nothing as far as items I could add on to the dress, which were all essentially perks that I thought brought out the best in each dress. Hikari shouldn't be scolding me for wanting to look better than I think I could have looked by just wearing her multi-colored frocks, and not adding a little bit of Nozomi Kobashi to complete the total package.

As far as what happens to the dresses after I wear them, every single dress is auctioned off by myself, with all of the proceeds donated to charity. By the way, although I didn't explain it, I donated every penny to leukemia research. Again, this is something that Hikari was not pleased to hear about, but again I say oh well. She placed into the contract a specific clause that states "Once a pre-selected dress of the choosing of one Hikari Kamiko is given/presented to one Nozomi Kobashi prior to a sanctioned or unsanctioned pokemon contest throughout the duration of this agreement, and Nozomi Kobashi has worn said dress throughout the entirety of her active competition in a pokemon contest, sanctioned or unsanctioned, then one Nozomi Kobashi assumes full ownership and responsibility of said dress in question; thereby relinquishing one Hikari Kamiko from all responsibilities of attire in question." In other words, once I compete in a contest, the dress becomes my property.

It doesn't hurt my bad girl persona if I show compassion or humanity on RARE occasions. This just so happens to be one of those rare occasions. Like I wrote, Hikari did not take my action of donating the proceeds of the dresses to charity very well.

Her reasoning behind this, although she has no legal ground to stand on, is that each dress was meant especially for me, and that I was bending the rules to make her look very foolish. It was her claim that I was being nothing more than a show off by using the wording of the contract to my advantage.

The last thing that I would call myself is a show off. I might have said in an ealier entry that I have always been somewhat of a shy girl for much of my life, and that's the honest to goodness truth. My appeals are meant to speak for me, but something has caused me to open up and talk more now than I have in a long time. It has to do with Hikari, I know that much. In a way, I'd like to believe that my words are inspiring her to be a better trainer and coordinator, but Hikari is capable all on her own.

A very sick side of me is actually glad that I lost the stipulation, and Hikari was not forced to have her head shaved. Why would I be glad that I lost? Well, in all honesty, I don't know her well enough to know what type of blow that would have been to her psyche, but I have to think that being there for the public head shaving would not have been a pretty sight, to see her beautiful long dark hair be taken from her.

Hikari must be the good guy, or in this case, the good girl for it all to work. She just has the look to do it, combined with the confidence and the ability, and a lot of that goes back to her mother, Ayako. I am more than willing to be the bad girl, and have shown over the past several months that I have the boldness to be able to handle the jeers and boos of a packed crowd for a pokemon contest.

One advantage that Hikari has is her attitude, that in some way prevents her from feeling bad for a very long time, or feeling sad. She makes a great role model for younger boys and girls that aspire to become pokemon coordinators themselves. Now, that doesn't necessarily mean that I see myself the way that basketball player Charles Barkley did when he said 'I am NOT a role model', because I do believe that I am a role model.

The main difference between me and Hikari is that Hikari is a role model for tradition and preservation of originality in the sport. I am a role model for speaking my mind and being myself, and being true to yourself, and furthermore, I consider myself a role model of character and personality.

It is much easier for people to hate me because I am so different from everyone else that participates in these pokemon contests. It is often said that it is easier to hate things that you do not know, or you don't care to understand. But I am by no means worried about the hate that I may receive from the fans all across Sinnoh, and wherever else I may go on my journey. Honestly, it is something that I have been used to from childhood; being different, that is.

But I am not the type of person who tries to hide their differences from everyone else, obviously. Just because someone is different or likes to do different things than everyone else doesn't necessarily make it bad. Unfortunately, not too many people share my sentiments or my philosophy as far as differences and tolerance are concerned. No matter, though.

Hikari will be the person that will supposedly be the beacon of political correctness, and the light and inspiration for young girls to be young girls, or some other fabricated utopian bullshit like that.

The GFCA will never change and they will never dare to be different, however. That much is quite certain. In their minds, why in the world would you want to mess with a proven, tried and true formula? Why? I say why not? It's much like the often debated theory of evolution by Charles Darwin. It stated that the longest surviving of the species were the ones that were able to adapt to a world that was changing. If it's very clear that the world is changing, why can't the people inside of it realize this and adapt?

Like I wrote before, you can't predict all of the people some of the time, but in this case,I will try to manipulate all of the people this time. Whether I get support or not is irrelevant.

On My Own... as usual,  
Nozomi

* * *

May 4, 2007 

"Now you two are probably wondering why we called you here this morning to Viridian City." These words are spoken by someone who is quite frankly, one of the big shots in the world of pokemon. He is Nicholas Kenmanson, the recently appointed commissioner for the Grand Festival Contest Administration, or GFCA, which is the main governing body and regulator for all pokemon coordinating worldwide. Also in the room are numerous Viridian City dignitaries, including Mr. Raoul Contesta, President Emeritus of the GFCA, and the Viridian City Nurse Joy. And along with them, are five administrators from the GFCA that report to Commissioner Kenmanson.

The two people that he was talking about are sitting in two large chairs next to each other. Hikari is on the left of the administration, and Nozomi is on the right.

Kenmanson has been for the past several years an enigma in pokemon business. He himself was a great fan of both training and coordinating since he was a very young boy, however his greatest passion in life was being a businessman and owning his own business. It seemed destined for him ever since he was a young boy. He made his first drink and lemonade stand at the tender age of five, and most summers, he would earn more money than his high school or college counterparts, as he would spend many hours at the various beaches selling his product.

At the age of ten, he shifted professions from lemonade to newspapers, and again succeeded in this venture. Kenmanson formed a group of several childhood friends to deliver as many as 1,000 papers a day while he divided both the work and the pay in a fair and balanced manner. He was always his own boss, but even then knew the importance of surrounding yourself with reliable people. Whenever he was sick or on vacation, he had friends he could count on to do the job for him, and no one was ever allowed to slack, or they would suffer consequences.

With this savvy business knowledge and a lengthy portfolio of childhood and adolescent endeavors, he was able to be professionally trained for business at the Wharton School located in the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia in the United States. While in his matriculation process, he found an internship program with the Pokemon League Championship Series, or PLCS, the governing body of the pokemon leagues and pokemon trainers. It was there he saw many things that discomforted him about the business of pokemon as a whole.

Upon reading many archived documents, he found that the PLCS and the GFCA had used the same business and promotional practices for the last fifty years. In his mind, it was a very irresponsible and retroactive step in the wrong direction to not change with the times and instead choose to rest on their own laurels. He wanted to change that, as he felt that the sport was not progressing at the rate that society was progressing.

Upon graduating with honors, he immediately studied for his M.B.A., and earned it in less than 18 months. With his contacts to the GFCA and PLCS already in place, Kenmanson was immediately given a position in the board as a deputy executive of the GFCA. He knew that slowly building the company and overseeing change would give him even greater favor in the long run. Under his tenure, he proceeded to lobby for minor changes in how the GFCA did business. He fought to have exclusive contracts with networks on television and radio. After some more time, he successfully convinced his superiors to use the medium of pay-per-view to advertise inter regional matchups that otherwise would not be seen unless coordinators traveled to different regions.

All of these changes, including the addition of a website, provided a higher level of revenue for the GFCA, considering inflation and other factors, than at any other recorded point in the past half century. All of this was done with very little fanfare or press. In fact, very rarely did the name Nicholas Kenmanson show up in news concerning the GFCA, as he felt that all of his work would have been for naught had the GFCA not considered and given the green light to his many suggestions and recommendations.

But people nevertheless recognized that along with the inclusion of Nicholas Kenmanson came great change. This change, in just about every aspect of the business was best for the business. That was a major factor in his peers and many superiors electing him to the position of Commissioner of the Grand Festival and Contest Administration on April 17, 2007. In his inauguration speech, he specified that "Change is indeed on the horizon. Having explored just about every facet of this sport over the last few years, I know that with the people in charge and the great coordinators entering the sport over the last few years we can all make great strides in making pokemon coordinating a global event."

To many, the task was daunting, and the person behind it (Kenmanson) was said to be crazy. But Nicholas has heard all of this before, and it had not once fazed him, from the time he was selling lemonade, to the day he walked across the stage with his M.B.A. from Penn. Nothing ever seemed to keep Nicholas from accomplishing his goals, and even then, there was more left for him to accomplish, like the subject of Hikari Kamiko and Nozomi Kobashi in is office.

"Do either of you know why you are here today?" Kenmanson asks.

"No, sir," both Hikari and Nozomi respond in unison.

"There are actually two reasons why you two have been called, together, for this meeting with the various dignitaries. The first reason is that due to your impressive efforts in pokemon contests throughout the Sinnoh region, you two are both nominated along with three other coordinators for the GFCA's annual banquet and awards ceremony in the category of 'Rookie or First Year Coordinator of the Year' in about three weeks. I must say personally that winning four ribbons each at this stage in both of your careers is most impressive. Keep up the good work, you two."

"The second reason is that I want to give you two a little lesson in economics. As of today, it has been nearly six months since Nozomi made her comments on live radio waves. We here at the GFCA were flustered and pressured by the media to make a decision, but we nevertheless remained firm. We put the ball in your court, Hikari, and essentially made it your decision as far as whether you wanted Nozomi to have her license suspended or not. You chose the latter option, Hikari, and in retrospect, you made a great decision." Kenmanson then proceeds to pull out several sheets of paper from a manila folder.

"I have here some statistics from contests that either or both of you have competed in over the past six months." Kenmanson is now putting his reading glasses over his eyes. "Now, as both of you probably know, every contest house in the Sinnoh region seats 3,000 people. At the Solaceon City contest in early October, which is one that neither of you participated in, the attendance was about 1,700 people. Not too bad, but there was room for improvement. When Miss Kobashi won her third contest ribbon in mid-November at that same venue in Solaceon City, the building was sold out. As a matter of fact, we had to turn away about 1,200 people."

"I remember that" Nozomi says in response. "And the people there in Solaceon were not happy when I won. Not happy at all."

"But the thing is" Kenmanson explains, "is that the people came to see you, and for the most part, they came to see you lose. We had interviewers and surveyors ask the various fans why they were there, and after getting a sample of approximately 500 people who saw the contest, 83 percent of people came to see you, and 67 percent were there to see you lose, Nozomi."

"As far as Hikari is concerned, there is one contest house every year that gets a Thanksgiving date, and Floaroma town happened to be the place. Now, often times in years past this has been a spot where we've had low attendance, and even lower ratings on television, but it's there for entertaining people that don't celebrate the holiday. I can't tell how it happened, but we got an audience share of about 28 for Thanksgiving Day from 12pm to 2pm. Compare that to an audience share in 2005 of only 16."

"We got, once again, a sellout for the Floaroma town contest, and we had to turn away about 800 people. So with that, we really started to pay attention to numbers, as we noticed that each time you would particapate in a contest, sanctioned or unsanctioned, you two seemingly had the Midas touch as it pertained to putting butts in the seats of not just the contest houses, but the homes of the people as well."

"It's also got the attention of some major advertisers that have been flooding our mailbox with letters and our switchboards with calls, saying they want to do business with us. We're talking about major companies that you two could be spokespersons for, and make a lot of side money along the way."

"This... personal rivalry that you two have waged against each other is something that people want to see. The numbers from the Veilstone contest have broken every record for a primetime contest in the last 25 years! We got a market share of 49, meaning that 49 percent of all people in the Sinnoh region were watching the contest in January; the one that you, Hikari, won, and you, Nozomi had that incident with Misdreavus."

"Last year, there was a primetime contest at the start of the year, and it only got about a third of the audience share that this one did. I told you about how advertisers are lining up to get on board with pokemon contests, and they had to pay something along the line of a million dollars for each thirty second commercial that night."

"Admittedly, we here at the GFCA were reluctant to go through with this. We had always been proponents of the integrity of the sport, and letting the action in the contest houses and Grand Festivals speak for itself. We have always been about the sport of pokemon coordinating, but this puts a whole new spin on things."

"Never before have we invested hard earned capital on personalities, but sitting here before me are two proven personalities that have the ability to put asses in the seats. I'm talking about you, Miss Kamiko and you, Miss Kobashi."

"Okay, but how do you know that those figures aren't just a temporary upswing or a fad of sorts? How do you know that this... rise in the ratings is because of us? Other contests have been up too, have they?" says Hikari.

"We talked about the Veilstone City contest, and although some may call it a bad example, we took the attendance from a contest done about three weeks ago" Nicholas defends. "The attendance in the three thousand seat arena was about 1,300 people. At Floaroma town before the end of 2006, there was a contest where only 900 people showed up. The difference was that neither of you two were there, and there wasn't a great amount of public interest in many of the other coordinators as opposed to the interest there is in you two."

"It's going to be a radical change, but we'd like to take great interest in making the personalities of the sport, along with their pokemon the main focus of our marketing strategy from here on out. We know that we've never gone this route before, but it is worth a shot and worth trying it based on these numbers we see here. Now aside from you two, we plan on elevating several people, but it is the decision of this administration to make you two the top stars of pokemon coordinating for the future."

"We're doing this for a few notable reasons. First of all, the built in rivalry that you two already have will make great television drama. The numbers that we got for Nozomi's contests in 2007 when she has worn the various dresses proves that people will pay and watch so called bad guys get their comeuppance. So while much of the Sinnoh region has seen you two, most of the fans in the other various regions like Orre, Johto, Hoenn, the Orange Islands, and here in Kanto haven't seen much, and most that they've heard have been highlight packages on the news, blurbs on the radio; in other words, it hasn't been much. But they'll get their chance to see you in about three weeks at the awards ceremony here in Viridian City."

"Another reason is quite frankly, the two of you are both young and talented coordinators. Both of you could be at the top of your games for the next twenty years or more. We can all be greatly successful if you continue to work on your performances in competition." Kenmanson punctuates the 'successful' comment by rubbing the index finger and thumb on his right hand together, and holding it in front of both Hikari and Nozomi.

"So what do you two say to our proposal to make you two the faces of pokemon coordinating in the Sinnoh region, and all other regions, as well?"

As far as the two young ladies are concerned, there are mixed feelings. Nozomi is elated, although she does not show it to the attendees. This is exactly what she wanted, going all the way back to the month of June, and along with the support of the GFCA, she has it. Although excited, she is somewhat apprehensive considering that the GFCA might want to control several aspects of the rivalry to the sole benefit of neither Hikari or Nozomi. Another point of reluctance that she harbors involves Kenmanson's remark about how they (Hikari and Nozomi) could remain at the top of their games for over twenty years.

While she feels that Kenmanson makes a great point that she will not dispute, she is worrisome as she thinks that the GFCA will try to make the rivalry last over twenty years and become something people will grow tired of after a while. Besides, her plan was to have the rivalry only last as long as either one of them won a Grand Festival Championship. But despite the many qualms of a still unknown plan concocted by the GFCA, Nozomi has the satisfaction of knowing that she has convinced the administration and most everyone else that she harbors true hatred for the blue haired coordinator.

Hikari is indifferent to the entire plan of Kenmanson and the GFCA. Her focus over the past seven months has been to try and get Nozomi back for the things she said, and just like in her speech, she still has unfinished business, because over the last several months, she still has not defeated Nozomi. But to have this responsibility of being the standard bearers for the business that her mother had a part in placed on her shoulders just scant weeks after turning eleven years old makes her somewhat nervous.

But the fact is that she came into pokemon coordinating to be one of the absolute best in the entire world. And now she is in the offices of the GFCA, and they were telling her in no uncertain terms that she would be presented as a top coordinator to the viewing audience. They were doing this simply because in light of everything Nozomi did, for some unusual reason, people wanted to see Hikari do battle and win in pokemon coordinating. To Hikari, it could be fun, and going to many contest houses, she will have two clear advantages.

Number one is that she has noticed the cheers that she receives from the crowds in every contest that she goes to. Fans have come up to her in recent months, and have told her to keep fighting the good fight, and to not be phased by Nozomi. Young girls tell her before and after contests that they want to be just like her, and young boys give her flowers as a gesture of good faith. Mothers and fathers have also come up to her and told her that she is a model young woman, who unlike Nozomi has carried herself with the greatest of class.

The second reason why she has a clear advantage is because her mother Ayako was such a great coordinator in the Sinnoh region. Much of her success is bound to rub off on Hikari. Because of her mother's popularity, she has a high built in level of public interest from fans of that era. Hikari is also not that humble to admit that she is a very good coordinator, and naturally, she will only improve with time. It's as if she will mature along with the rivalry.

"I'm fine with it. I won't speak for 'daijobu' girl, but I have no problem with it" Nozomi says, acting indifferent.

"It could very well be fun." Hikari gives Nozomi a funny look, but then turns back to Kenmanson and smiles, saying

"If Nozomi is gonna be a part of this, then I wanna be a part of it, as well." Hikari then takes one final look at Nozomi. "I'll prove to you beyond any shadow of a doubt that I am a credible coordinator, even if it takes twenty years." Hikari then gets out of her comfortable chair, and goes to Commissioner Kenmanson, pulling out her right hand. "Commissioner, though I cannot speak for Miss Kobashi, it will be an honor to represent this sport as one of its cornerstones of the new generation of pokemon coordinators," she orates while shaking his hand. She then proceeds to leave the board room.

"I look forward to working with you over the coming months. I bid you all, farewell." And just like that, Hikari leaves.

"Idiot" Nozomi says, so the people in the room can hear her. Nozomi then gets up from her chair and goes over to Kenmanson and the other dignitaries in the room with him.

"While daijobu girl appears to be fine with all of this, I've got a few issues that I hope either you or your people can clear up for me, Kenmanson. I can call you that, can I?"

Kenmanson shrugs his shoulders for a moment. "I don't mind. What's on your mind, Nozomi?"

"I don't like Hikari Kamiko" Nozomi bluntly states to the Commissioner. "But I don't want people to take advantage of my personal and intimate feelings for purposes of profit and sensationalize them into something that they really aren't. Do you understand what I'm saying, sir?"

"I think so" Kenmanson says simply. "You don't want this body to stick their nose into what is your business and your affairs with Miss Kamiko. You don't want the GFCA to insult people's intelligence by throwing out these outlandish claims of how you'd do this to Hikari if you met her, or do that to Hikari if you met her."

"Exactly," Nozomi asserts. "I mean, you saw how we acted when we were in the same room together. For the most part, we are able to stay civil with each other. I just don't agree with her approach to coordinating, among other things. So, do I have your word that you will let me and Hikari take this where we want it to go, and... I can get out of this whenever I want?" Kenmanson doesn't say anything. All he does is bring out his right hand. "I believe we have a deal, Nozomi."

Nozomi appears unemotional, but is relieved to know that the rivalry will be executed under her terms with the marketing monster of the GFCA spearheading her efforts and ideas. She willingly shakes Kenmanson's hand and says goodbye to all of the dignitaries in the room. Before she can leave though, Kenmanson asks her to wait a second because he has a question to ask Nozomi.

"Was there any reason in particular why you donated that money from the dresses to a leukemia foundation?"

"Well, I can't remember if I explained it or not," Nozomi admits, "but the reason was that my best friend died from the disease about six years ago. So there's a personal reason for the donations. My wish is that we rid the world of it, 'cause I never want to lose another friend to it."

Kenmanson nods his head, fully understanding Nozomi's motives and says, "I'm sorry to hear about that, but it's very refreshing to see someone like yourself take the initiative and be proactive about a problem like this."

"Thank you," Nozomi says to Kenmanson. "I hope to see you all in the near future, especially at the awards ceremony. Good day to you all." With that, Nozomi leaves Commissioner Kenmanson's office and prepares for further training, and the awards ceremony coming in exactly three weeks.

* * *

May 25, 2007 

When eight year old Sebastian Kobashi got a call from his older female cousin Nozomi in the middle of May, he was excited and thankful to hear from her, as the most that he had heard from Nozomi personally over the past seven months was a letter he got around the end of November that talked of some bad news.

Sebastian was informed of just about all of the details of the bet that Nozomi had with her rival Hikari. Sebastian sent several letters back, but all of them went to Hitomi, who could only call her daughter and tell her of this correspondence by phone. It was impractical to send them to Nozomi because she was traveling all the time.

The letters got so piled up that Nozomi developed a system with her mother where she (Hitomi) would phone her with the contents of each letter, so she could send a letter as a response. The letters Sebastian sent were for the most part letters of encouragement from cousin to cousin with Sebastian telling Nozomi to not be intimidated or wavered from losing the stipulation. Other letters were simply written to let Nozomi know of his progress in grammar school in England.

But very recently, Sebastian sent a letter telling Nozomi that very soon, his boarding school would be letting out for the summer. He specifically gave a letter to Hitomi wondering when he could come and visit the mother and daughter pairing, which would be the first time that they have seen each other in over a year and a half.

Once Hitomi got the letter, again Nozomi's mother opened the letter and read it to her, but this time, instead of writing back to Sebastian, Nozomi called Sebastian's parents (Nozomi's paternal aunt and uncle) Anthony and Kris Kobashi. Anthony was Keiichi's younger brother. In any event, they were surprised but happy to have heard from their niece Nozomi and were glad to know that she was doing well in her journey.

Nozomi called them to find out if Sebastian could spend the final weekend in the month of May with her as an honored guest traveling to Viridian City for a banquet and awards ceremony for pokemon coordinators. After Nozomi explained the details, including the fact that the event was all expenses paid courtesy of Sebasitan's older cousin, it was simply a matter of Nozomi asking Sebastian, as Uncle Tony, as he was called, and Aunt Kris had already said yes.

They liked the idea for two reasons. One is that they wanted Sebastian to see part of the Kanto region that they had been to and enjoyed themselves as kids, and two, which is a more personal reason is that they would have one less child around the house during this one weekend and more time to themselves.

The mid-May conversation between Sebastian and Nozomi lasted only five minutes or so, but Sebastian accepted the offer after some playful goading from his older cousin. About ten days later, Sebastian is on a private plane to the airport of the Kanto region, and after landing at the airport, he is immediately brought to a parked limousine, with a chauffer carrying a sign with the surname 'KOBASHI' printed on it in big black letters. After a quick snack and movement of baggage from the plane to the car, the limo is off and running in ten minutes. The drive to the Theatre at the Indigo Plateau is nearly a half an hour long.

When Sebastian got to the theatre entrance for V.I.P., he is greeted by a very familiar face. It's never been that difficult to spot Nozomi Kobashi, even in a large crowd or gathering, but here she is, walking swiftly to the passenger's doorway to let Sebastian out of the car. Once unfastening his safety belt and getting out of the black limo, he gives his older cousin a big hug and takes a look at the girl.

"Hey! How's it going, Zoey?" he says in the most pretentious British accent that his cousin had ever heard. The fact is that Nozomi was born and raised in England and thought that she had heard them all until Sebastian came along. Sebastian just went to school there, but he seemed to have picked up more than just an education in England.

"Not too bad, Sebastian," Zoey admits. "Since the last time we've talked, things are certainly looking up for me in my rivalry with Hikari. I no longer have to wear the dresses, thank god, and now that we're about to complete our first years, we can compete on pay-per-view cards and earn some serious dough, and get some prime recognition from our peers."

Sebastian looks up and down at his cousin. "You look... stunning! You're like Helen of Troy, but instead of a face that stops a thousand ships, you have a wardrobe that does the same thing!"

"Oh, stop it, Seb!" Zoey calls her cousin. "And Helen of Troy had a face that launched a thousand ships, not stopped a thousand ships!"

"Well, its true, Zoey!" In the eyes of Sebastian, although his cousin looks her best, not much has changed since the last time he saw her when she was about to turn ten and go on her pokemon journey. Her red hair is still short and as wild as ever, and her outward appearance as always is a show stopping one.

She is dressed to the nines tonight in a black suit and tie, with a white shirt and, as always, her signature sunglasses over her eyes. She looked very much like she was a member of the Men in Black, or a member of the United States Secret Service, 'Whichever one seems to play to whatever audience you're in front of' Sebastian claimed to himself. Sebastian concluded that Nozomi had the 'MIB' look in mind for this event, but then he turned his attention to what he was wearing.

He, on the other hand, appeared to be more dressed and ready for a Lee Dungarees, Wrangler Jeans, or Levi Strauss commercial rather than a formal banquet with his cousin as a guest of honor. He had on a short black T-shirt with no other colors or designs on it, and a light blue pair of worn blue jeans. It is a far cry from the school uniform that he wore for about the last 4-5 months while in boarding school.

"No offense, Seb, but you look kinda like you thought that this banquet was under Casual Friday rules." Zoey says, uneasily, and takes a final look at her cousin. "Very casual 'Casual Friday' rules at that. No worries, though. We've got about three and a half hours before we have to be seated and about four hours until the banquet begins. I prepared for a situation just like this, and found a place for tuxedo rentals about five blocks from here. The limo driver is rented until Sunday night, so if you want to do anything before you get fitted, we have some time."

Sebastian gleams at the offer to be made over for the night and take care of whatever other business that he wanted to take care of. It took about two and one half hours, but Sebastian was able to call his folks and tell him that he was with Nozomi and that he was all right. He was also able to get a haircut and get fitted for a tuxedo one hour before the very important persons and their guests were to be seated. The two cousins make their way back to the theatre at about 7:15 p.m., and make their way inside to get their seating arrangements.

Once the identities of both Sebastian and Nozomi were confirmed by the front desks, they were given their identification cards and their table assignments. Both of them were about to head for the dining hall, but Nozomi had to make a stop first.

"Sebastian?" Zoey says, getting her cousin's attention. "I need to make a quick stop at the restroom. You wait here for me, and don't move. Are we clear?" Sebastian gives Nozomi the 'O.K.' symbol, and stands near the ladies room door.

He does not notice that there is someone that is also waiting alongside the ladies room door, until he turns to the right and sees a girl that is about his age standing up against the wall. She's wearing an elegant dark green gown with chestnut brown hair that falls straight down all the way to the small of her back.

"Hello there," Sebastian says to the girl, being polite by greeting her. "Have you been invited here by someone else, as well? You look like you're a tad too young to be a pokemon coordinator."

The girl, likewise, did not notice that someone was standing next to her by the bathroom door, and looked over to find a boy her age. She smiles at his politeness, and says to this stranger, "You certainly have an eye for age. Yeah, I'm only eight years old, but I'll be nine by next month."

Sebastian appears to have found an icebreaker with the girl. "Well, I'll turn nine myself in August," he says, holding out his right hand. "My name is Sebasitan Kobashi."

The girl responds to Sebastian's gesture in kind, shaking the hand of Sebasitan. "I'm Alexis O'Connor, and with respect to what you said about me being invited here, I was. I got invited by my friend Hikari Kamiko as an honored guest along with her mother, Ayako."

Sebastian stood in front of Alexis in shock. He had a feeling that Hikari would also be at this banquet tonight, but based on the details that Nozomi gave him on the intense and tension-laden nature of the feud, he believed that it would be hard for either girl to stay civil in the same place for any extended period of time.

"So who invited you to come to this event, Sebastian?"

"My cousin, Zoey." Alexis then looks at Sebastian oddly. She remembers from the 2006 pokemon rookie coordinators program that the nickname of another prominent rookie coordinator was Zoey, and she got somewhat nervous thinking that 'she' was also here in attendance at the banquet.

"Sebastian," Alexis nervously spits out of her mouth, "Your cousin 'Zoey' wouldn't happen to be... Nozomi Kobashi, would she?"

"Yes, she is." Then, all of a sudden, Sebasitan put two and two together, and asked Alexis a question. "Are you waiting for Hikari to come out of the restroom... like I'm waiting for Nozomi to come out of the same restroom?"

"Oh boy," Alexis answers. "Those two practically hate each other! I'm gonna go in there, Sebastian. You stay here in case I might need more help." As Alexis briskly walks to the door, it opens to find Hikari coming out of the door, looking very much like her cheerful self.

"Ready to get seated already, Alexis?" Hikari asks the young prodigy.

"Uhh..." Alexis squeaks out while looking at Sebastian standing over to the side. "Yeah. How did you know? I mean, you had to be in there at least five minutes. Heck, you were there so long that I made a new friend," she states, pointing to the young Kobashi boy.

"Oh!" Hikari says, surprised that Alexis found someone her age at this event. "And what's your name?"

"My name is Sebastian Ko-OW!" Sebastian couldn't finish saying his full name, as Alexis stomped on his right foot using her three inch heels before he could do so. Alexis away from the glaze of Hikari did a 'throat-slashing' motion to Sebastian with her left hand and spoke into Sebastian's ear the words, 'don't say your last name'. To his credit, the younger Kobashi got the hint, and told Hikari to just call him Sebastian.

"Okay, then" Hikari said, not wanting to push the issue. Hikari then turns to her guest of honor. "We've got to get to our table, Alexis. It's just a matter of finding table number 21. Sebasitan, I hope we can see you later tonight."

"Yeah. Me too." Sebastian says, as Hikari and Alexis make their way to the dining hall.

'Okay, boy.' Sebastian says to himself. 'Remember they're at table number 21. I've got to talk to Alexis some more, away from Nozomi.'

"Hey buddy. How's it going?" Sebastian doesn't need to turn around to know that that voice belonged to his cousin Nozomi, who has just returned from a stop at the restroom. After an indeterminable amount of time, Sebastian turns around to see the familiar smile on the face of his cousin.

"Uhh..." Sebastian finds it hard to say anything knowing that both Hikari and Nozomi were in the same bathroom together, though looking at his cousin's face, you wouldn't have believed it. Sebastian is noticeably pale, and Nozomi sees this.

"Seb, are you all right?" Nozomi seriously asks. "You look like you've seen a ghost!"

"Uhh..." Sebastian says once again, "you didn't happen to see anyone that you knew in that restroom, did you?"

Nozomi laughs. "No. Just this boyish face in the mirror. That's all I saw. Come on, Seb. It's about time for us to get seated. We're gonna be at table number 10. You ready?" Sebastian simply nods, and walks hand in hand with his cousin to the dining hall.

After about five minutes, the Kobashi's find table number ten in a massive sea of tables, with dignitaries from regions near and far. If either Sebastian or Nozomi had to take a guess, they'd say that there were at least 3,000 people and 2,000 pokemon in attendance at the time that they sat down, and the ballroom still was not even two-thirds full.

Sebastian and Nozomi obviously only totaled two people, but at their table, there were eight seats. This causes Sebastian to scratch his head, and ask his cousin what was on his mind. "Say, Zoey. If you secured this table for the two of us, then why are there six places for seating empty?"

Nozomi chuckled, not believing that her cousin hadn't figured it out, yet. "Silly boy. You saw the people here that had their pokemon out at the table, right?"

"Uh-huh." Her cousin simply responds.

"Well, you didn't think I was just going to leave Glamie and the others at home with with Aunt Hitomi, did you?" Nozomi then pulls five pokeballs from her belt, and commands Misdreavus, Glameow, Ledyba, Monferno, and Flareon to 'curtain' for this formal occasion. The only instructions that she gives her five pokemon is to enjoy themselves for tonight.

After a few minutes of ordering foods specific for each pokemon, Sebastian asks if he may be excused to go to the restroom. Nozomi says yes, and watches her cousin exit the dining hall. A few seconds later, she scratches behind Glameow's ears and gets a good look at the staging area for the presentation of awards.

"Hey, you! Over there with the Glameow!" Nozomi turns around and sees two familiar faces from television. They spent this year competing for entry in the Johto League Grand Festival. One was a girl named Haruka in a white strapless gown, and the other was a boy by the name of Shuu, who was wearing a black tuxedo with pinstripes.

"Oh!" Nozomi says, grateful to meet these veteran coordinators for the first time. "I know you two! Haruka and Shuu! You brought the house down at the Kanto Grand Festival in your quarterfinals..."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Haruka interjects, clearly perturbed. "We've seen you, as well. You're Nozomi Kobashi and quite frankly, you're a fucking disgrace to pokemon coordinators all over the world. You're ruining the reputation of this great sport with your big ass mouth and your bitchy little attitude, and I won't sit on the sidelines and allow you to just do that!"

Nozomi is not phased by these comments from Haruka for the simple fact that she has heard them so many times before. She flashes the Petalburg City native a smile, and takes her sunglasses off. "I beg your pardon, Haruka? Have you seen the numbers from contests I've been in? Forty-nine percent of all households in the Sinnoh region saw me compared to last years 16 percent. How in any way, shape or form can you call that 'ruining the sport' or 'a fucking disgrace,' as you so aptly put it? If you ask me, I'm breathing into this sport a new life, and a new attitude. And I don't just talk the talk, either. I also walk the walk. I've won four ribbons. You do know what that means, right Haruka?"

"I know what that means, thank you very much. I've done it twice, and now I'm going for a third stint of winning five ribbons." Haruka educates the younger coordinator. "But when you claim to be... breathing new life into the sport? You may be attracting this new fan base, but you're doing it at the expense of trainers who didn't do a goddamn thing to you, yet you're going to rip them in the media? In my book, that's a dick maneuver, and if I had the book, I would have suspended your sly little punk ass for doing it. And I would've erased that damn smile from your pretty little face while I had the chance." Haruka finishes her last sentence, sneering it directly into Nozomi's snickering face.

"What Haruka is trying to say is," Shuu says calmly, not trying to lose his temper, "we don't think that Hikari deserved to have those things said to her with little to no merit or reasoning behind them. I don't even think you've given a reason for saying that stuff."

"You know, you two," Nozomi retorts to them, uninterested, almost as if she was listless, "there serving cheese appetizers over there. I doubt either of you are old enough to drink, but you certainly do have a lot of wine to spare." Nozomi then stands up to Haruka, and meets her face to face, her smile still very much intact. "Why don't you... go over there and have your own party, and quit ruining my fun?" Haruka turns away from Nozomi for a second and takes a deep breath.

She turns back to her long enough to say the words "You bitch" to Nozomi, which does not go unnoticed by the redhead.

"What's stopping you from taking a swing and knocking me down a peg, Haruka? I know you wanna do it. Just one quick punch right here." She says, pointing to her war-trodden nose, which has been broken on multiple occasions. "You know it will shut me up. So why don't you do it?"

Haruka is beyond pissed now, to the point that she seriously is considering punching this girl; a term that she uses very loosely to describe Nozomi. Although she indeed was a successful coordinator, she appeared to love herself and her accomplishments far too much.

"Though I might hate myself in the morning," Haruka explains, "for you, I think I'll make an exception." Haruka then cocks her right arm backwards, but something, or rather someone stops her from moving it forward.

"No, no, no Haruka," says Shuu, who saw the whole episode, and became soured over the entire Nozomi Kobashi experience. He pushes Haruka back, and away from Nozomi. "Let's just go. It's really not worth it at all."

"You better hope to God we don't meet in a contest someday! Shuu won't be there to stop me from really kicking your ass!" Haruka says, as Shuu walks her back to her table, far away from Nozomi.

"Enjoy the banquet, you two!" Nozomi says in her most camp voice. After Shuu and Haruka leave, Nozomi notices that Sebastian has not returned from the restroom yet after several minutes, and starts to get worried. She puts all of her pokemon back into their pokeballs and searches for her missing male cousin.

It turns out that Sebastian never had any intention of going to the restroom whatsoever; rather he fulfilled his original plan to meet up with Alexis once more, and get some information on how she and Hikari knew each other.

"She was that scared?" Sebastian asked.

"Yeah." Alexis confirmed. The two eight year olds were discussing Hikari's attitude as she first met Alexis back in October. Hikari wasn't at the table, telling Alexis a few minutes beforehand that she had to make a long distance phone call. "I'd like to think that I helped her, but she was the one that won the ribbon and spared her hair, so she should get all the credit."

"Wow. I never would have even thought of that. Did she ever explain why she came into your room, though?"

"Well," Alexis starts, trying to dig into the archives of her brain to figure out what would inspire Hikari to pick her of all people. "She saw me in the hospital, and I suppose she saw that I wore a skull cap and at the time I had little to no hair, she might have seen her future self. And there I was, balder than an eagle, because I lost all of my hair in chemotherapy, and... probably saw me doing my puzzle, and I didn't appear sickly, but it was obvious that I was very ill at the time. She saw me, and I was still living my life even though there were doctors that said I was on my deathbed. I guess it put her situation in perspective."

"But now I'm able to go out, and I feel so much better than I did seven months ago, people still wonder why I keep in contact with Hikari. It's because I want to do what she's doing, and she's becoming sort of a mentor for me, telling me the things I should expect when I start my journey."

"Sebastian! There you are!" Nozomi runs to the table where both her cousin and Hikari's good friend are sitting. "I was about to call public address to have them seek you out. I was damn near worried sick." It's here that Nozomi finally notices Alexis. "Oh, I didn't know you were talking to a friend, Sebastian. Why didn't you tell me? You could have sat with someone your age the rest of the night if you didn't want to hang with your older cousin. What's your name?"

"Alexis O'Connor, and you must be Nozomi Kobashi. Sebastian has told me so much about you."

Nozomi ponders where she heard the name 'Alexis O'Connor' from, because it sounded familiar. "Where have I heard that name before? Can you help me with that?"

Alexis nervously smiles, knowing that the truth about who she is will eventually come out.

"I'm back, Alexis," a voice calls out, walking towards the table. It is Hikari. "Hey, I didn't know you had--" Hikari's speech is halted when she finds Sebastian, but also finds that he is being held by her rival Nozomi. "Sebastian?" Hikari asks. "You know Nozomi?"

"The jig is up, Sebastian," Alexis breathes. "You might as well tell Hikari who you are."

Sebastian simply shrugs his shoulders to Alexis's request, as if to say that he has no problem letting Hikari know who he is.

"Hikari," the boy begins, "My full name is Sebastian Xavier Kobashi, and this is my older cousin, Nozomi, though everyone in my family calls her by her nickname, Zoey."

"Well," Hikari says, surprised to see such a nice charming member from Nozomi's family, "This is certainly a breath of fresh air."

"Indeed it is," Nozomi agrees. "He's spending the weekend here with me, because he just got out of school." Nozomi then decides to do something good for her cousin.

"Did you like spending time with Alexis, Sebastian?"

"Yes," he says.

"You know, if you want, Sebastian, I'll let you spend the rest of the night here with Alexis and Hikari. I've got no problem with it."

"Really?" Sebastian asks, not believing it.

"Really."

"Wow! Awesome!" he exclaims. "You're the best, Zoey!" he says, giving her a hug.

"Well, you bring the best out of me, kiddo." Nozomi admits. "Do whatever Hikari and Alexis say, and once the banquet is over, don't come to me, because I'll come to you. Then we'll do all the fun things you want to do tomorrow and Sunday. Do we have a deal?"

"You bet!" he exclaims.

This out of character behavior from Nozomi does not go unnoticed by either Alexis or Hikari. "What is it about that boy," Hikari whispers into Alexis's ear, "that seems to bring out the best in Nozomi?"

Alexis simply whispers back to Hikari, "beats me, but I'd like to know." This game of mini-telephone between the two friends is practically ignored by the two cousins, as Nozomi leaves Sebastian with them, and tells him that she'll see him after the banquet.

* * *

May 26, 2007 

For The Microwave Society,

This entry will be real quick. It's morning, and Sebastian is still asleep.

The banquet was a very good experience. Sebastian met a friend named Alexis, who also happens to be a friend of Hikari's. I let him sit with them for the night, because I wanted him to have the most fun possible, rivalry with Hikari or not. I know that the two of them had to be surprised that I behaved so well, but the fact is that I would do anything for my cousin, and that certainly would count as anything.

As far as awards were concerned, I was nominated for three, and won one award. The three awards were "Most Dominant Performance at a Pokemon Contest" for my performance at Solaceon Town, knocking out all of my opponents in the battle portion of the event. The second nomination was for "Best Appeal" for me and Misdreavus, and the third and most important in my mind was for "Rookie Coordinator of the Year".

The award that I won was for "Best Appeal". Hikari also won an award for "Best Performance Under Pressure" for winning the Floaroma Town contest for obvious reasons. But the award that we both coveted more than any other was "Rookie of the Year", which we both lost to Cindy Chalmers, my roommate going all the way back to the rookie challenge. Truth be told, the win almost appeared to be by default as Hikari and I had four ribbons each, and Cindy had already made her goal of five ribbons, and automatic entry into the Johto Grand Festival. I met two standout trainers in Hoenn named Haruka and Shuu, and I'll just say that if we ever compete in the same region, I think I'll have two more rivals on top of Hikari.

But this weekend will be a pleasant change of pace. It won't be about Hikari, or Haruka, or even Alexis and Shuu. This weekend will be all about Sebastian and I. And whatever he wants to do is whatever we will do.

Besides, I have a lot of lost time to make up for. Though I'll never be able to fully repay Sebastian for all that he's done in my life, I will try my best, and that started yesterday in an out of character moment for me. But the moment he goes back home, things are back to normal... as normal as they can be at this point in my life.

Thankful for the Experience,  
Nozomi

* * *

A/N: And with that folks, the first arc of 'Sharing' is a wrap! I'd like to thank all of my readers for their support of a project that I now believe will be 400,000 words, or more. I thank you for my patience, and for all those that are fans of this work, I recommend another work of mine, called 'A Confession Gone Awry'. This story will return on October the 15th, 2007, so keep checking the author's page periodically for more information! 


	8. Familiar Faces in Unique Places: Part 1

Sharing

After an INSANELY long hiatus that came due to Murphy's Law in its many forms, 'Sharing' is back with its second arc. The chapters in this arc will be 'significantly shorter' than the first one as a means of covering the many people, places, things and other aspects that help to form a million-dollar rivalry in a piece by piece format. Plus, more keys to the past unlock deep, dark secrets of both Hikari and Nozomi and it all begins again, right now! Enjoy, whatever fans remain!

NOTE: This entire story uses a mix of both Japanese and North American dub names. This chapter is entirely in the first person POV of Nozomi and there will also be a flashback in this chapter.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Pokemon, a creation of one Satoshi Tajiri, and is produced domestically (in the United States) by Pokemon USA/The Pokemon Company, and internationally by Shogakukan and OLM. I personally own nothing and make nothing by writing this. Please do not flame.

(Chapter 8- Familiar Faces in Unique Places: Part One)

* * *

Saturday August 11, 2007

Putting the finishing adjustments on my tie, the butterflies in my stomach are more than apparent. I'm sweating bullets right now in front of the mirror because today marks my very first appearance on a pay-per-view card, and my opponent is the traveling bard, Naoshi. While I don't necessarily agree with the path he has taken choosing to compete in both contests and gym battles, keeping serious coordinators like myself, Hikari, Shuu, Haruka and others away from our ultimate goals, I must say that he is more than worthy competition for me and many others that are taking part in this special card in Pewter City.

Every pay-per-view card for pokemon coordinating has a certain theme. This theme can be determined by either the main event, the host city or the theme can be in conjunction with another event in the area. The theme for this particular card is 'Differences of Opinion,' which is also the title of the card itself. There are a total of 12 contest-length matches and one special main event match that will take place over anywhere from three to four hours. Earlier today, there were matches between Kengo and Harley, where Kengo came out the victor in a very close match up between Prinplup and Cacturne that got a great ovation upon its conclusion.

Aside from that bout, there was another hard fought battle between Grace and Savannah, where Savannah won with her Flareon against Medicham, and a two out of three pokemon grudge match between Haruka and Shuu, where Haruka won after her Blaziken knocked out Shuu's Masquerain. Afterwards, Haruka spoke to the crowd in attendance, making some very scathing remarks that I know were directed towards me.

Paraphrasing her words, Haruka told the audience of thousands that what they just saw was an example of real coordinating. She continued to boast about her success claiming that she didn't have to brag about it, humiliate her opponent in any way or be pushy to her fellow competitors. All she had to do was let her battling and coordinating skills do the talking. She might think that speeches and campaigning like that would faze me, but she does not know Nozomi Kobashi.

I chuckle when I think about how she was able to cleverly skirt using my name in front of the crowd of over 15,000 people yet _everyone _in attendance knew exactly what she was talking about. The power of the spoken word can never be understated, and as I look at myself in the mirror one more time, I look at the living, breathing statement before my very eyes.

Like just about all of my other contests in the past, I have dressed to the nines in a caped tuxedo. This particular number includes a gold suit flowing all the way down to my lower ankles along with a white shirt with thin gold pinstripes, matching gold pants and shoes and a striped gold and silver tie. Turning around twice in front of the mirror, I have to give myself and commissioner Kenmanson a 'thumbs up'. It was his suggestion about two weeks or so ago for me to wear something fitting of richness and value seeing as I would be the golden boy—or in my case, girl, of pokemon coordinating. And, again, Nicholas thought it would be a good idea for me to make a grand statement in front of a mass audience.

"Well, this makes for more than just a statement," I speak. "Although I think when I walk out there, people might confuse me with the golden goose." Shrugging off any such comparisons, I reach into the breast pocket of my suit and pull out my favorite accessory of all time in my sunglasses. Putting them on, although it may sound weird to those that don't know me, I feel almost invincible. I feel like nothing can touch or harm me. I feel more confident knowing that people can't see the two rustic brown windows to my soul. The world is cooler when you put on a pair of sunglasses, and not just because your eyes are shaded from the sun, either.

I don't think I can prepare myself any further for this turning point in my coordinating career, so I gather myself one final time by taking a deep breath, and I open the door to enter the lobby backstage and I find about 10 or 15 different coordinators gathered near my private dressing room looking at me with indescribable looks. I can't tell exactly what they are saying with this body language, because it appears to be a mix of people wondering why I am getting so many perks for doing very little in my career so far and people wanting to tear into me like I really was the golden goose.

One thing I never claim to be is naïve. I know that all of the current gossip amongst several of my peers has to do with why I have gotten all of this special treatment for this pay-per-view when I'm not even a part of the main event, which is between former Grand Festival champion, Saori and the city's gym leader, Jiro in a best three out of five bout.

The commissioner gave me my own dressing room and when word got out about it to the other participants this morning, from what I heard from several whispers backstage, a couple of coordinators wanted to make my time here in Pewter City nothing short of a difficult experience, believing that I didn't deserve any of these perks.

I decide to pay this no mind and I walk to the backstage portion of the arena without saying anything to these gullible fools, though I did hear Haruka press me a bit hoping that I heard her comments from earlier in the broadcast. I just ignore this firm conservative and go to the pay-per-view producer to get any final instructions prior to going out there and beginning my match with Naoshi. Basically, I'm being told to just try not to have any slip ups getting to the stage, listen to the referees in charge and have a great match. I give the producer the 'okay' symbol and wait for a cue to enter the arena floor and walk out to the stage.

This time alone with just me and my thoughts gives me ample opportunity to think about how things progressed during this day. Things during this pay-per-view broadcast remind me a bit too much of that now infamous day back in October when I set this entire plan into motion. Back then, just like now, nobody would talk to me…with one glaring exception.

_FLASHBACK_

_For perhaps the third time in about five minutes this afternoon, I've attempted to sit down and eat my lunch with a few other coordinators, but as I sit down to eat just about anywhere, the group of people around me get up and go to other tables, giving me the cold shoulder in the process. _

_I sweat drop realizing that this is in all likelihood my fate if I am to continue with the master plan of a major league rivalry with Hikari. I will just have to deal with people not appreciating what I am doing for this sport. _

"_You can sit here if you want to," a female voice quietly speaks. It's so quiet, that it takes me about three seconds to spot this girl's voice, but when I do, I could have been floored by a calm wind. _

_I need to adjust my eyes and make sure that I'm seeing things correctly. Is this really her? She has red-brown hair like she did, her skin is pearl white like hers was and those beautiful cobalt blue eyes remind me so much of her. If this is who I think she is, then she hasn't lost an ounce of her feminine charm or modesty. She dresses as unassuming as ever with a pleated orange ankle-length skirt, a sleeveless yellow blouse and her large orange purse. My thoughts are so clouded with the idea that she might have come back into my life once more that I neglect to respond to her request to sit next to her and eat._

"_Hello there," she says to me trying to get my attention once again. "I asked if you would like to sit with me." This time she succeeds and I tell her that I'd be glad to sit with her and have lunch. She was sitting with absolutely nobody, and if I tried to find anyone else to sit with, they would likely avoid me like the plague._

_Once I sit down with her, I get a closer look at the girl sitting next to me. She is very charming looking like the person I'm thinking of used to be, and quite frankly, I am on pins and needles wanting to know if she is who I think she is._

"_Oh, forgive my rudeness, Nozomi," she speaks hesitantly while eating her meal of pork, rice and seaweed. I'm not surprised that she knows my name in the least bit. I'm quite popular these days, but I wonder for what reason this girl knows my name. "I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Brianna Coby. I'm a coordinator here in the Kanto region, but I've been really trying to make my mark in a few other areas. I'm gonna be competing in the pregame battle tonight against Sandra. I'm gonna be in what's essentially the warm-up match before television."_

_Mystery solved. It isn't her. No matter, though. It was a huge stretch to think that she and I would cross paths again. I laugh at how we as people can often find familiar faces in the most unique of places and I inform Brianna, "My name is Nozomi Kobashi, as you already know. Umm, can I tell you something kind of funny that you might get a kick out of?"_

"_What's that?"_

_Not knowing where to begin, I start with the word "I…" and leave the starting point open ended. "I have seen your face before. I know that might sound creepy, but when I was about six years old, I was a top gymnast and one of my teammates from the same troop looked exactly like you. She was from France, though, and a name like Brianna Coby doesn't scream 'French' like her name, which was Marie-Claire Bodan."_

"_That's a beautiful name," Brianna remarks, "and let me also say that…I never did picture a girl like you ever wanting to be a gymnast. I don't know. I've seen some of your work and your appeals before and…no offense, but you look more like a boy than most of the boys."_

"_Ah, none taken," I reply back to Brianna with more than a passing chuckle and I'm really enjoying talking to this girl a lot. I take no offense to the gender bending remark, because I've heard it so many times before, even from my own family members that I've become used to it. "But," as I explain to Brianna, "a lot of men have succeeded in gymnastics before. What about Paul and Morgan Hamm?"_

"_Okay," Brianna says, "but the _big_ stars like your Mary Lou Retton's, Shannon Miller's, Nadia Comaneci's and the like were all girls." Damn. She's smart, too. "That's why I chose coordinating, aside from the fact that it's run in the family for several generations. Historically, girls have been coordinators and I was naturally going to be next in line, but…I just…things haven't clicked for me like they did for my mom and my aunt several years back." Brianna brings her head down for a moment before she admits, "I want to be successful, Nozomi, but I really don't know if coordinating is my thing."_

_I feel for Brianna right now. There was a bleak time in my own life when I doubted myself and my abilities after the accident involving my broken leg, but what got me to believe in myself and regain my confidence was some good advice from an unlikely source. In the vein of paying it forward, I give this girl in need some sound advice of my own, and I place my hand on the girl's shoulder. _

"_Brianna," I begin, "you know, you are in a unique position. You can be whatever you want to as a coordinator or…whatever. I know you've probably heard that more times than you can count, but it's true. I know what it feels like to have pressure from your family to succeed. My father, who passed away when I was only seven years old, was also my gymnastics coach. And I try to tell people all the time, he was a fantastic father. He didn't push me to become a great gymnast or a great anything. He did give me tough love a lot of times, but looking back at it, I don't think I would have had it any other way. His discipline shaped me into who I am today."_

_I stop for a bit. I'm sure that I have gone too far. "Brianna? I'm sorry. I'm sure you don't want to hear about my sob story. And here I am trying to cheer you up."_

"_No, no," she defends. "It's fine! You did help me. You were opening up to me when you really didn't have to. You were sharing. That what friends do, right?"_

_I have to admit that I am taken aback by what she just said. Did she call me a…friend? 'That's what friends do,' were the words that just came out of her mouth, so that's right, but forgive me if I'm the type of person that likes to hear something like this from the horse's mouth. "Brianna? Was there any particular reason why you let me sit with you at your table?" I decide for now that I won't directly ask her, and instead opt to see where this question leads. After all, I am quite curious as to why out of about 50 coordinators, she was the only one that would let me sit with her. _

_Brianna looks over to me and says, "Well, I don't think you're anywhere near as bad as Haruka and Shuu claim that you are. They actually had an unplanned meeting of the other coordinators this morning and said that no one should talk or associate themselves with you because that would be a sign of selling out. They think that you are more style than substance and that you're bad for the sport."_

'_Judging me before they even get to know me. How class, Haruka and Shuu.' Obviously, I'm being sarcastic with my thoughts, and as I explain to the aspiring coordinator, "Those two don't even have a damn clue about who I am or what people like to see. I know it, and I can tell when I go out there for battles or appeals that people are begging to see something new, different and exciting. It's not selling out, it's called good business, which is exactly what this and every sport is; a business. We sell the product of pokemon coordinating to the people watching on television and going to contests and pay-per-views. Our audience chooses to either buy into it or not and as coordinators, it is our job to make sure that the people say 'yes'. That's what Commissioner Nicholas Kenmanson told me some time ago."_

"_Wow!" Brianna interjects excitedly. "You actually talk to the new commissioner?"_

"_Every now and then," I smile back to Brianna. _

"_I think it's cool that someone so high ranking takes the time to speak with coordinators," she admits to me, "though I wonder if he'd ever take the time to speak to someone like me." _

"_Sure he would!" I assure the confidence-lacking girl sitting with me. "You just have to believe that you are just a little bit audacious enough to make some kind of a difference in this line of work. Brianna, there's an old proverb and it states that one good or great idea will lend you many lifetimes of success."_

"_That's just the thing!" Brianna rebuts loudly. "I don't have any good ideas like you do. I have a few good pokemon that have given me a respectable level of success with my peers, but I haven't been to any Grand Festivals because the most ribbons I've won in any region is three and you need five just to get to the Grand Festival. I don't know. It's just…my mom and my aunt were both great coordinators, even though neither of them won a Grand Festival and together, they have over 100 ribbons. I don't think I could _ever _top that kind of success." I see a tear come out of her left eye, and something inside me tells me to act. I have no handkerchief, but what I do have is the napkin that came with my lunch and I use it to wipe away her tear._

"_Don't worry," I tell her. "Don't think about topping them. All you need is a little encouragement just like the rest of us. I'm sure there's something inside of you just waiting to come out." Brianna looks up to me after I give her a light pat on the back and sees my smile along with the rest of my welcoming glaze. It takes a minute or two, but I'm finally able to see that beautiful and classy smile on her face. It reminds me so much of Marie-Claire, it's almost disturbing._

"_Thank you, Nozomi," Brianna says, regaining her composure._

_I don't know what it was, but something inside of me tells me to say to the modest girl, "Please, call me Zoey."_

"_Zoey," she repeats. "Zoey Kobashi. I think it fits you well. Something about you is just so…appealing and full of life, and I also like the fact that you aren't afraid to speak your mind. I may not agree with everything you say, especially the things about Hikari, but everything that you say does have substance and a message behind it. And I don't agree with Haruka and Shuu saying that you're nothing but talk. I wish I could be like that and speak _my _mind and back it up on the battlefields, but I always end up stammering and looking foolish in the process. Also, I don't think that you deserve to be ostracized just because someone in power finds favor in you and what you do. If they want to change that, then they should speak up or make their own mark."_

_Brianna stops speaking for a moment. I think she might be nervous about something, but I'm no mind reader. "I'd…I'd like to be friends with you, Nozomi, if that's alright. I think you might have been wondering about why I called you 'friend', right?"_

"_Yeah," I speak. "That did cross my mind. And…I would like to be friends. That'd be real nice. I haven't had a real good friend in a while, and I don't think I'll find anyone else here willing to even get near me." Looking around, I see the other tables of my fellow coordinators chowing down on their food and a few of them leaving to go back to their rooms. The few that looked up to see Brianna and I eating together quickly turned away from us if we caught them staring._

_END FLASHBACK_

For two hours after we decided to become friends, Brianna and I spent the next two hours talking. I learned that Brianna's mother is Stella Mae Coby, one of the most renowned coordinators in the history of the Johto region during her heyday. Stella had help and guidance in her older sister and Brianna's aunt Michaela Coby, another great coordinator. They were some of the first coordinators to stress style, color, fluidness and vivacity in their appeals, while at the same time battling in contests as if they were competing in the Pokemon league.

People like to talk about how coordinators in the Sinnoh region like to dress up for contests, but truth be told, that is a relatively new phenomenon that didn't begin until about the 1970s; the same decade that both Michaela and Stella Mae had their greatest level of success. Seeing some pictures of them, I can tell how coordinators like Ayako, who made her greatest splash during the 1980s and early 1990s, Hikari and just about any other modern coordinator could be inspired from these two mavericks of the sport.

"Nozomi? Hello?" a voice sounds out, kicking me out of my unconscious thoughts. I shake my head for a bit before the producer tells me that it's time for me to go out on stage. I thank him and I walk out in front of the arena filled with thousands of GFCA fans booing me with resounding fervor. I think I'm starting to hear the chants of 'Zoey Sucks!' once more.

I smile. They hate me so much, and it's a beautiful thing, too, because I got just what I want…and what I need.

* * *

A/N: 'Sharing' is back! Part two should be coming very soon, and you now see why I have much shorter chapters. I'm able to update quickly and cover various topics one at a time. In the next chapter, which Hikari will be narrating for the most part, see how Nozomi does in her battle against Naoshi, what makes this Marie-Claire stand out so much in Nozomi's mind and doesn't Hikari have a battle of her own to attend to in this pay-per-view? Find out more about what I mean later!

Also, Nozomi asks both Brianna and Commissioner Kenmanson for something, but what is this 'something'? All this is coming in chapter nine, so please read and review!

Until next time, it's been Rave!


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